


Three's (not) a crowd

by VathySkotadi



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Blushing, F/F, Light Angst, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24019510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VathySkotadi/pseuds/VathySkotadi
Summary: Sometimes, love is not as simple as it seems. Likes and dislikes aren't obvious, and feelings are often born without their bearer realizing they're there. When Akko asks Sucy for some romantic advice, she gets a little bit of hope... That seems to be quickly pushed off a cliff when Akko uses it to confess to Diana.But maybe there's more to this whole situation that meets the eye.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari/Sucy Manbavaran
Comments: 47
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HollowClock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollowClock/gifts).



It was Friday afternoon when Sucy decided to go work on her potions.

As she often did after classes ended, she took her leave from the classroom and headed straight for her chambers. She’d take the hour or so Akko used to mess around outside to continue her experiments in peace, with no brunette hazard around to screw with her concentration. Be it morning, afternoon or night, Akko always seemed to have energy to spare. This, in turn, made her a constant thorn in Sucy’s butt.

She had just sat down in front of the desk when the door to her room opened. Sucy didn’t even need to turn around to know who had just entered, so instead she mentally prepared for the shouting and crashing sounds she had come to expect from the brunette.

Silence was all she got instead.

She turned, wondering if maybe it had been Lotte to enter. No; Akko stood there, under the threshold, looking at Sucy with hesitance and fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. When they met eyes, Akko looked down, which instantly triggered an extremely confused reaction in the potion maker. Akko looking down? Was she… embarrassed? What the hell was going on?

“If you’ve come to bother me, then you’re doing a horrible job of it,” Sucy said, trying to get Akko out of her strange mood.

Akko frowned. “It’s not that,” she said in an uncharacteristically low voice. “I just… Well, Lotte went to meet Barbara again, and I need to talk with someone, so…”

Sucy stared at Akko, unblinking. After a moment of weighing her options—speak to Akko and have her possibly blow up her experiments while they talked, or not do it and risk Akko staying anyways but uncontrolled—she nodded. “What do you want to talk about?”

The first sign that something was off came in the form of a light blush. Sucy had to blink to make sure the sudden pink shade Akko’s cheeks had taken wasn’t an illusion. The second one was Akko hesitating before speaking. She always sputtered whatever she was thinking. The last one was how she refused to meet Sucy’s eyes.

Sweet nines, it almost looked as if she… “I think I like someone,” Akko finally said.

Sucy blinked.

Was she hearing this right?

She stood, walking towards Akko. The brunette turned with confusion and then flinched as Sucy stretched her arm. However, all Sucy did was touch her forehead. “You’re not sick, are you?” She asked, confused. “Maybe I got sent another Cupid Bee by accident…” She started searching for explanations.

“Sucy!” Akko slapped the hand away, regaining some of her energy. “I just… I just need some advice, please.”

Sucy was stunned by Akko’s seriousness, but she quickly recovered. After a moment, she walked back to the desk. Akko liking someone, unbelievable… “Fine, what advice do you need?”

“Well, I wanna confess, but… I don’t really know how to approach her,” Akko gave a sideways glance to Sucy. “Half the time, it feels like she does like me back. The other half, it feels like she can’t stand me,” she explained, looking down again.

A strange pressure suddenly settled in Sucy’s chest. Was this her imagination, or was Akko looking at her funny…? _Nah, don’t be silly._

“I mean, if you don’t even know if she likes you, you should just go ahead and try,” Sucy shrugged. “Worst case scenario, she rejects you. You can still be friends.”

Akko looked up, frowning. “It’s not so simple. I don’t want to be rejected!”

“Well, duh,” Sucy rolled her eyes. “But not doing anything is hardly any better, I imagine.”

“Don’t _you_ have someone you like?” Akko met Sucy’s eyes.

Sucy hesitated for a fraction of a second before laughing. “You really think I’d get myself involved in something so messy?” she asked, shaking her head. “Love is for fools,” she waved a dismissive hand.

Crossing her arms, Akko looked strangely disappointed by this. Sucy paused her laugh, raising an eyebrow. It was the one behind her hair, though, so Akko didn’t see it. “If that’s so, then why are you talking with me about this?”

“Because I want you out of the room so that I can get my experiments done,” Sucy explained, pointing behind her. “Just confess, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Akko pressed her lips. “I don’t want to break our group of friends or anything if she rejects me, though. It could be really awkward…”

Again, Sucy felt… something, tugging at her chest. It really felt like… Like Akko was talking about her. Was this a subtle way of seeing if Sucy would accept a confession from her? It sounded silly but…

“Just go for it,” Sucy said. “If you really are friends, then even if she rejects you, nothing big will change.”

Akko considered this. “I see, I guess you’re right. Thanks Sucy!” She seemed to regain all of her energy in a single second as her smile widened. She waved and quickly ran outside.

Sucy was left there, surprised, unable to fully process what had just happened. Was Akko going to confess? Well, if she was, it was certainly not to Sucy.

Or maybe she was just making some time or preparing some silly scenario to confess. That sounded like something Akko would do. A chuckle escaped Sucy as she imagined Akko trying to flirt with her. Akko, in love, what a stupid idea…

That same night, during dinner, the seven members of their group of friends wondered where Akko and Diana were. Hannah had explained Akko had suddenly appeared to drag Diana away, and they hadn’t been heard of since.

Luckily for their curious minds, they didn’t have to wonder for long, as the both of them made an appearance ten minutes after dinner had started. They entered through the outside door, which was weird in itself, as every student was supposed to be inside by this time, but being with Diana had probably earned them some leeway.

It was instantly obvious something was going on. They walked really close together, and while they weren’t doing anything overly romantic, their reddened faces and the way they looked at each other completely gave away who Akko had confessed to.

Of course it had been Diana. Nines, Sucy had been such an idiot for even considering the possibility that it would be her… She shook her head and chuckled to herself. How the hell had she even gotten that idea in her mind?

“Hello,” Akko said as she sat. The wide smile on her face was almost blinding.

Diana sat next to her, and everyone at the table stared at the two of them with probably the same question in mind. Sucy already knew what was going on, so she was about to crack a joke, but Amanda reacted first.

“I mean, I knew you had a thing going,” she pointed at the couple, “but I didn’t think you were smart enough to figure it out.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Akko asked annoyed.

Amanda chuckled.

She had a point, though. If Sucy thought carefully about it, Diana and Akko _did_ have a ‘thing’ going. The way Akko always looked for her approval, and the way Diana always subtly manipulated her to strive to even further heights, pretending to be not particularly impressed but always making the right comment… They had chemistry.

Sucy also, often, tried to do something like that, but she used Akko’s more impulsive nature for it. When the brunette was mocked, she often got more determined and pursued her goals with a lot more energy. It was impossible to deny her strategy was far less effective, though, so it made sense Akko would pick Diana.

Not that it had ever been a competition . Seriously, what was she thinking?

“Sucy,” Lotte suddenly nudged her. Sucy looked up from her plate, realizing she’d been spacing out. “Aren’t you going to congratulate Akko?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Akko smiled broadly. “Sucy was the one to give me the courage to confess, so in a way she was the first to do it,” she looked at Sucy directly.

While Sucy would _never_ admit it, it was nice seeing Akko smile like that.

Still, she scoffed and looked away. “It was nothing,” she said with pretended nonchalance. It wasn’t like she really cared that much…

“So,” Barbara interrupted the other chatter. “Did you two kiss already?”

Akko and Diana cleared her throats and laughed nervously. “W-well, uhm…” Akko started.

“Do we really need to hear it?” Sucy asked, interrupting.

Barbara gave her an annoyed look. “Of course!” she said, then she turned to Akko. “Come on, I wanna know the juicy details,” she stared with the intensity of a ravenous animal.

Next to her, Hannah pretended to not be as interested, but was clearly paying attention too. In fact, it seemed everyone at the table but Constanze and Sucy were intrigued by the tale.

Sucy shook her head, but there was nothing she could do to stop it. She took her empty plate and stood. “Hey, where are you going?” Akko asked, looking up at her.

“I’m not particularly interested in the current topic,” Sucy shrugged. Who would want to hear about other people’s romances? It seemed like a good way to be miserable, if you were single, or extremely bored, if you were Sucy.

She stood there for an extra second, though it was hard to tell why, looking at Akko. She looked happy, at the very least. Then she turned to Diana, who was giving Sucy a quizzical look. Sucy met her eyes for only a second before turning towards the kitchen to return the plate. What had that look been about?

Something stirred between her; the uncomfortable feeling that Diana hadn’t been merely confused by Sucy’s disinterest. Well, not that it mattered anyways. She’d go and make some potions, which always helped her clear her head. Or her lungs, if she happened to breathe particularly dangerous gasses on accident.

Five minutes after Sucy had finished her experiments, Akko barged into the room alongside Lotte, the both yawning and looking tired.

“Aren’t you going to stay the night at your girlfriend’s?” Sucy asked, turning on the chair. She’d meant to be playful, but her voice came a lot more serious than she’d wanted.

Akko still chuckled and blushed. “It’s a little too soon for that.”

Quickly changing into their pajamas, Akko and Lotte outdid even Sucy in preparations to go to bed. Given, Sucy took things a lot slower. As she did so, her mind slowly drifted back to dinner. What had they talked about after she left? Kissing, obviously. Probably something like ‘things we like about each other’ too. Cheesy stuff lovers in a newborn relationship often did. What did she care?

“Ah, I almost forgot,” Akko said as she climbed on bed. “Sucy, wanna come tomorrow to see a movie?”

Sucy had just finished putting on her pajamas. She paused, in the middle of the room, deadpanning Akko. “Are you seriously suggesting that? Shouldn’t you be asking your girlfriend?”

“Don’t be silly,” Akko made a dismissive wave of her hand. “I already asked her!”

Silence reigned the next few moments as Sucy tried to piece together what she meant. “Wait, you want me to be a third wheel?”

“Oh come on,” Akko snorted. “You’re my friend too! Since Lotte and Barbara already had plans, I didn’t want to leave you all by yourself here.”

Sighing, Sucy shook her head. She didn’t answer as she exited the room to go to the bathroom. _Of course_ Akko would invite her to hang out with her newly made girlfriend without realizing how awkward—and potentially annoying—that’d be for the both of them.

When she went back to the room, Akko was still waiting for her. “Sooo?” She insisted.

“So what? Ah, the movies thing. No thank you, I’ll be fine alone,” Sucy shrugged. That’d mean an entire day without Akko around to ruin her experiments! Now that was a much more appealing prospect than a movie.

“Please, what else could you possibly want to do more than hang out with us?” Akko put on that puppy eyed look she often used, forgetting it was useless with Sucy.

“Hang out alone and in peace,” Sucy replied without pausing.

“Hmpf, fine, be like that, but you’ll regret it tomorrow,” Akko sulked, turning to face the wall.

Sucy shrugged, climbing on her bed.

“You sure you don’t wanna go?” Lotte asked from the top bunk. “Could be a good chance to buy some herbs or to collect mushrooms.”

“I’ve got enough for now, thank you,” Sucy said.

Lotte didn’t seem convinced, but she didn’t push the issue. With a flick of the wand, she turned the lights off.

Right before falling asleep, in the darkness where no-one could see her, she doubted.

Maybe she should have accepted, after all. But then she thought about Diana’s look during dinner and… No. Sucy and Diana didn’t have a big relationship. They had very different approaches to handling Akko’s shenanigans, and they often didn’t mix together.

Plus, as if she’d want to see Akko and Diana be lovey-dovey. The thought made her shiver. Yeah, right.

She fell asleep pointedly ignoring the burning feeling in the depths of her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would normally post these works in a single go, but this is a bit of a long one so Imma do daily posting instead!  
> Hope you enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

Sucy woke up late next morning, the sun already high on the sky, which was unusual of her.

She opened her eyes to find Lotte already gone, and Akko preparing. She wore simple jeans and a plain t-shirt, which suited her fine. When Akko turned, she quickly closed her eyes, pretending to still be asleep.

“Hey, you’re awake, aren’t you?” Akko said.

“How did you notice?” Sucy cracked one eye. That had been quick.

“You always do a little sigh when you wake up,” Akko explained with a smile.

Sucy didn’t dare ask why Akko knew that. Instead, she got out of bed and began changing into her clothes. Akko’s silly comment had her a little distracted, though, and she couldn’t help but wonder just how much attention the brunette paid to her.

“You’re still invited, by the way,” Akko repeated.

“Did you even ask Diana about it? She’s probably expecting this to be a date between you two,” Sucy shook her head.

Akko rolled her eyes. “Of course I asked her, what kind of idiot do you take me for?”

That caught Sucy by surprise. “And she was ok with that?” She asked in complete disbelief.

Akko nodded. “Yep, so… Do you want—”

“That’s still a no,” Sucy didn’t let her finish. Even if Diana were to be ok with it, she probably only agreed to make Akko happy.

Akko pouted. Sucy ignored her.

Five minutes later, Akko gave Sucy another intense look. “This is your last chance to come…” she said in an ominous tone. Sucy gave her an inexpressive stare and shrugged, pushing the desire to say yes out of her brain. When no response came, Akko sulked again. “Fine, get bored on your own, see if I care,” she stuck out her tongue and turned.

Sucy ignored her.

However, right before leaving, Akko paused at the door, turning. “Diana isn’t nearly as bad as you think, you know?” She said, leaving before Sucy had any chance to answer.

 _Well, of course you’d say that. She’s your girlfriend_ , she thought. At least now she’d have the entire day to herself…

How come the perspective of a peaceful time suddenly seemed so grim?

Akko met Diana at the school’s gate.

The blonde witch smiled when she saw her, and Akko waved eagerly as she approached. During weekends they were allowed to go to town, and Diana, having wakened far before Akko, had already taken care of their paperwork. So it was that when Akko stood in front of her, the first thing Diana did was hand her two sheets of paper.

“Morning,” Akko said as she took the paper. The first one had her name on it, and the one below it… Akko sighed.

“I take it she refused?” Diana crossed her arms.

Akko nodded, feeling dejected. “Yeah,” she looked at Sucy’s name, feeling a bit hurt. “I mean, I guess she had a point, but I was hoping she’d agree to come anyways.”

“Didn’t want to hang out with your new girlfriend?” Diana asked as she folded her own permit and stored it in her jacket’s pocket. Their uniform regulations on weekends were a lot less strict this year. As long as they didn’t have flashy patterns or drawings, or they didn’t go around with miniskirts, they were allowed to wear casual clothing. Diana’s dark jacket, mixed with a pair of navy blue jeans and a light blue shirt, made her look cool and beautiful.

“No,” Akko sighed. “She thinks she’d be a third wheel.”

Diana gave her an ‘I told you so’ stare, but she didn’t say it. Instead, she stepped forward, taking Akko’s hand. “Don’t be too disheartened. I can’t claim to know a lot about Sucy, but she seems like the kind who’d need a bit of a push. I know what she said must have been disheartening, but are you really gonna give up like that?”

Akko met her eyes. Diana’s understanding of her feelings came as a bit of a shocker. Still, her spirits lifted thanks to her words. Smiling, she leaned forward and pecked the blonde. “You’re right,” she said. “I should—”

“Hey!” Finnelan called them from the entrance of the school. “No romance inside school grounds!”

Akko and Diana blushed lightly. “Go,” Diana pointed inside. “I can wait for a little longer.”

Nodding, Akko turned and ran.

Sucy tapped her foot.

She never did that.

‘Anxious’ had never exactly been a part of her vocabulary. She’d been stressed, she’d been nervous, she’d been worried. But never outright anxious. She took things calmly, patiently. There weren’t a lot of things in this world that could get her to feel like this.

So what was different about today? The obvious was Akko being gone, but it wasn’t the first time Sucy had dealt with that. Hell, she often preferred it when the brunette wasn’t around. Was she worried, maybe? Worried about what, though? That Diana had played Akko for a fool, possibly. But that was stupid.

She brought her hands to her head, massaging her temples. She had been staring at her vials and ingredients for a good ten minutes since Akko had left, but she was unable to focus. Why was she thinking about Akko so much, anyways? Sure, these changes to the status quo could distract anyone, but Sucy didn’t care. She didn’t, she just…

The door swung open with such speed that its wind made Sucy’s hair wave.

“Sucy!” Akko’s voice was loud enough to make her wince.

“Keep it down,” Sucy turned with a disdainful look, pretending to clean her ear from the noise. “What did you forget?”

“You,” Akko strode up to her, took her arm and started pulling on her. “Come on.”

Sucy shook the hand off. “What do you mean? I told you I don’t want to go.”

“But I want you to come, so you’re coming, get up,” Akko took her again. She was stronger than Sucy, so she easily overpowered her and lifted her from the chair. Sucy groaned, but she also knew there was no stopping Akko when she got like this, so she rolled her eyes.

“Fine, fine, stop pulling me,” Sucy freed herself again. “I’ll go, but at _least_ let me change into more comfortable clothing.”

Akko narrowed her eyes, probably suspicious of a trick, but then she smirked. “Ok, I’ll wait.”

Sucy sighed. It seemed like her peaceful day was no more.

The trio of girls walked down a road that was so filled with people that it was hard to breathe. Blytonbury wasn’t often a busy town, but for some reason it seemed like today was different. Whatever it was, the river of people pushed them around like ragdolls.

Akko and Diana didn’t struggle too much to stay together though. They were holding hands. This made Sucy’s eyes narrow. So much for not being a third wheel.

“I’m going to start poisoning every person that touches me,” Sucy growled, getting a vial and her wand ready.

“When did you slip that in your pocket?” Akko looked at the poison with surprise. “I was sure you didn’t take anything from the table!”

“I always keep vials in my clothes,” Sucy explained. “You never know when a poison might come in handy.”

Diana, next to Akko, gave her an eyebrow-raised look. “What if it breaks?” She asked.

“I reinforce all of my crystal with magic. It won’t break unless you pound it with a hammer,” Sucy shook the purple liquid in front of them.

“That’s… smart,” Diana nodded appreciatively. “Carrying poison around is still dangerous, though.”

Sucy shrugged, moving to put the vial back in place. Someone bumped into her, almost making her drop it. Growling, she turned, ready to inject its contents right into the guy’s veins through magic.

Akko stopped her by taking her hand.

The trio became a stone in the flow of people as Sucy stopped on her tracks. “What are you doing?” she asked. Between her hand and Akko’s still rested the poison, but that was besides the point.

“You were really going to poison him?” Akko frowned.

“What? He’ll just go blind for a few hours, no big deal,” Sucy shrugged.

“That’s illegal,” Diana chimed in.

“Not if he doesn’t find out,” Sucy smirked.

Akko paused. “Well, she’s not wrong…”

“Akko!” Diana lightly slapped her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Right, right. Come on, don’t go around poisoning people, Sucy,” Akko said, tugging on her to begin moving. Rolling her eyes, Sucy let herself be dragged away. After a minute, though, Akko Still hadn’t released her hand.

“You gonna free me or…?” Sucy asked, annoyed.

“Nope,” Akko turned to her with a smile. “I mean, as long as I’ve got you like this, there’s no way you’re gonna poison anyone!”

That wasn’t exactly right. In truth, Sucy knew of a spell to inject someone from a distance, and it only required her to be holding her vial, which she technically was. She left this detail hidden, though, to not push Akko towards taking it from her or something. “So you’re just gonna give up both your hands?” Sucy raised an eyebrow.

“Well, this way we’ll also avoid getting separated, so it’s ok.”

Sucy looked at Diana. She was Akko’s girlfriend, was she ok with this?

Diana looked at Sucy with the hint of a smile and shrugged. Sucy got the message. Akko being Akko, what could she possibly do?

So Sucy had no escape. Sighing, she tucked her wand back into her pocket.

Akko’s fingers hand held on tightly to hers all the way to the cinema, and Sucy didn’t find the energy to fight it. She did wish she could take the sweater she’d worn off, though. The day was starting to get hotter.

“Well that was a bore,” was the first thing Sucy said as they exited the theater.

Akko and Diana nodded. Sucy wondered if she could get the director’s name and use him as an example of a complete lack of creativity in a human. Even for a generic action flick, it had been so utterly plain that even Akko, who could be distracted with a shiny piece of plastic, ended up getting tired of it. They didn’t even stay for the last two or three minutes of the movie, as they cared next to zero about it.

“Sorry I dragged you into this,” Akko spoke with an angry undertone. “If I’d known it’d be so awful…”

Sucy could tell Akko was genuinely upset by this. With some reluctance, she shrugged. “It’s fine, it could’ve been worse.”

“How?” Akko raised an eyebrow.

“The kid who was kicking your seat could have been kicking mine.”

Akko frowned, which only pushed Sucy into a snicker.

“I do wonder why kids were allowed in that movie. It was rather violent,” Diana said.

“Kids nowadays play games and such far more violent than the movie,” Sucy explained. “It’s what it is.”

Diana nodded in understanding, a thoughtful expression in her face. It was often easy to forget that she didn’t actually have a lot of knowledge of mainstream media.

“Ok, since that was a total waste of time, how about we take some more advantage of our trip,” Akko stepped further ahead of them. The streets were far more traversable than they’d been when entering, and the light of the day started to turn orange as it approached the late afternoon.

“Sure,” Diana said. “Do you want to grab a coffee?”

Akko snorted. “Coffee? Do you want to spend _more_ time sitting and doing nothing?” she pointed towards some unknown location. “No, we’re going on an adventure!”

Sucy could already smell the Akko shenanigans coming, so she raised a hand. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go back to—”

“Oh no you won’t,” Akko pointed at her. “You see, you’re the most important part of it!”

 _Great._ Sucy turned to look at Diana, but she was as confused as Sucy. Was this girl really Akko’s girlfriend? She sure as hell didn’t seem to understand her. Not that Sucy could blame her too much, Akko _was_ a handful.

“Ok now, follow me!” Akko said, turning and leading the way.

Sucy considered just slipping away. It’d be fairly easy, given how little attention Akko was paying her at the moment, and assuming Diana didn’t snitch… But whatever, it wasn’t as if she had much else to do. She’d make Akko pay her the efforts later. She had some experiments that needed a guinea pig, after all...

“Akko,” Sucy stared at the flowers in front of her. “I’m not a druid.”

“What do you mean?” Akko cocked her head.

Sucy refrained from showing too much annoyance. “I know of herbs and their uses, I know how to make potions, poisons and a lot of different beverages, I could catalogue every poisonous mushroom known and unknown to men by smell: But I have absolutely no idea, and neither do I care, about the language of flowers.”

“B-but…” Akko looked at the garden in front of her. “How am I supposed to do this now?”

“I don’t know,” Sucy shrugged, shaking her head. “Maybe you should’ve asked before making us come all this way for nothing.”

Akko crossed her arms, trying to piece together some unseen puzzle in her head. “Fine, I’ll just go with whatever is prettier, wait here,” she finally said, turned and began walking through the flowers.

The park they were in was the same one where they’d talked with Annabel the year prior, though it was a long way from the cinema they’d gone to. It was hard to believe this little piece of nature stood unchallenged so close to a city—but then again, Blytonbury wasn’t the biggest city in the first place. Sucy might have been more interested, but used to the forest surrounding Luna Nova, this was hardly impressive.

Akko soon got lost walking among the flowers, and Sucy, bored, decided to sit down. A minute later, Diana mimicked her, and they both stared as Akko walked and picked flowers at random.

“What do you think she’s doing?” Diana asked.

“Not sure. Could be some sort of spell… or it could be a salad. With Akko, you never know.”

Diana chuckled. “You’re not wrong. I certainly never expected Akko to confess, though I guess I should thank you for that.”

Sucy rolled her eyes. “Yeah.” She didn’t really want to talk about this. At all.

An uncomfortable silence settled between them, in which Sucy simply diverted herself watching Akko run around like an idiot. Her hair glistened in the orange sun, and the way she sometimes paused to look at one specific flower, deciding whether to pick it up or not, was almost enthralling.

“I don’t really get it,” Diana said, looking at Sucy.

“Get what?”

“Why you’re so… Mean, I guess,” she explained. She looked at Sucy with that same look she’d given her the day prior. “It’s obvious being with Akko makes you happy, so why are you always pushing against it?”

Sucy raised an eyebrow and snorted. “Where did you get that idea? I just go along with her because she gets ten times as annoying when I don’t.”

Diana nodded, as if she understood, but then she pointed at Sucy. “Then why are you smiling?”

Sucy paused.

“And,” Diana continued, “you’re just saying that as an excuse. In the end, you’re a good enough witch that you could probably slip away without Akko noticing. I don’t see why you’re so reluctant to admit you enjoy Akko’s company.”

She looked confident in what she said. To anyone else, it would have certainly sounded like she had a point. Sucy, though, frowned. “Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?” she replied, her voice dropping an octave. “I get that you’re dating Akko, so you probably want to understand her friends, but do _not_ pretend to be a therapist.”

Diana’s eyes widened a little with Sucy’s aggressiveness.

Wisely, she decided not to say anything else.

It was an eternity of awkward silence before Akko came back with her bundle of flowers. Sucy wasn’t sure what all the varieties were, but she did recognize the few hydrangeas in it from her previous time here.

She was smiling as she approached, and Sucy noticed the way the sunlight made her sweat-coated forehead sparkle. They had maybe half an hour of light left, which meant they had to make their way back to Luna Nova soon.

Sucy stood up when Akko got close enough. The brunette used her free hand to help Diana up, and in one swift motion, she gave a bunch of the flowers to her. “Here,” she smiled. She had a blade of grass tangled in her hair, and her face had green smears all over it for some reason. “I picked the most beautiful flowers I found for the most beautiful girl I know.”

Diana accepted the flowers with a smile, looking at the bundle as if it was pure gold. “Thanks a lot, Akko.”

Of course they’d be for Diana. Sucy felt stupid for not realizing it. And Akko had wanted her to help with picking them up? What a joke—

“Here, this one’s for you,” Akko turned so quickly that she took Sucy by surprise. She looked at the flower she was being offered with hesitance. It was a deep violet hydrangea, while most of the flowers Akko had picked for Diana had lighter colors. Was it a consolation price? “I picked it because it was sitting alone, far from other flowers, but it was still beautiful. It reminded me of you.”

Her smile was so pure and honest that even if she’d said something Sucy would have found insulting coming from anyone else, she had no choice but to feel flattered. She took the flower feigning nonchalance. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

Akko chuckled, and the sound resonated within Sucy like nothing she’d heard before. She looked away to hide her emotions, eyeing Diana, who seemed perfectly fine with the situation. In fact, she had an… expectant look, as if she was waiting for Sucy to react a little more openly.

“We should get going,” Sucy said instead, pointing at the sky. “If we’re not back soon we’ll be banned from going out for a month.”

“Oh shoot you’re right!” Akko panicked, turning and picking Diana’s hand, “Come on, let’s go!”

She started dragging Diana with a fast pace, and after a second, Sucy followed—carefully using a spell to save the flower inside of an empty vial. Mostly because otherwise Akko would surely complain she hadn’t taken care of it. She’d put it in a pot when they returned.

“Today was a success, I’d say,” Diana told Akko as they both sat on the grass under the night sky, a privilege they held thanks to Diana, who was allowed to be wherever she wanted whenever she wanted.

Akko had to hold back from just rolling over Diana to hug her. Even in the night, the full moon’s light was strong enough that they could see almost without an issue. It also made Diana’s hair look like silver, which Akko couldn’t help being amazed by. It didn’t help that Diana had put one of her flowers up there, too. Just looking at it made Akko’s heart flutter.

“It was fun, that’s for sure,” she nodded. “Though I don’t know if Sucy would think the same.”

“I can tell she did, even if she won’t admit it,” Diana put a hand on her back.

Akko wasn’t so sure, but if Diana said so, then she was more open to the idea. “Sorry for being moody,” she said. “I should be happy that we’re together.”

Diana leaned over, putting her head on Akko’s shoulder. “Well, you remained my friend by breaking through each one of my emotional walls like a bulldozer, so I can’t really complain. I know you’ll figure it out… though maybe don’t go overboard, or you’ll just suffocate her.”

Akko smiled, resting her head on top of Diana’s. “I know I’m not very smart, but I think dating you might have been the most intelligent decision I could’ve made,” she said, closing her eyes and enjoying the evening cool. “Such an understanding, smart, beautiful girl, it’s a wonder no-one snatched you sooner.”

Diana didn’t answer, instead just linking her hand with Akko’s. Akko didn’t normally enjoy sitting around doing nothing, but she could get behind this.

When she opened her eyes, Diana was shaking her. “Akko, wake up.”

Akko blinked. “What?”

“You fell asleep,” Diana explained. Had she? It had only felt like a second… “Come on, it’s ten thirty, we need to get to our rooms.”

Akko stood in a jump. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?!”

“I didn’t want to disturb you. You were so cute…” Diana shrugged with an apologetic smile.

“Curse you and your flattering excuses,” Akko complained, helping her up. “Ok, imma run to my room, if I get caught I’m gonna blame you.”

“Actually, it’s probably for the best if you blame me,” Diana smiled mischievously. Now that was a new expression.

Still, Akko was in a hurry. She leaned, pecking Diana’s lips. “Night, beautiful, now if you excuse me…” she turned.

“Sleep well, Akko, see you tomorrow,” Diana replied as Akko began running.

Truth be told, Akko had sneaked out during night enough times to know how to not get caught. Even while in a hurry, she didn’t want to peel potatoes for a week, so she took care to avoid the teachers and faeries that lurked in the hallways at night.

She reached her room without major incidents, and it was clear by the turned off light that inside Lotte and Sucy had gone to sleep, so Akko entered trying to be as silent as possible.

Of course, that meant she instantly tripped and fell, face-planting the floor and yelping. In her defense, the room had been awfully dark. The lights turned on before she even got a chance to get up.

“You _could_ at least not wake Lotte up if you’re gonna stay up till late with miss perfect,” Sucy complained.

Akko looked up, realizing Sucy was sitting on the chair, working on something. “Sorry,” she laughed nervously.

Sucy looked at Lotte’s bed, where the redhead still slept. “Well, no harm done, I guess,” she sighed, getting up. “Now that you’re here, I better end my experiments, or you’ll make us all blow up.”

Akko frowned. She knew Sucy was just being her usual crass self, but she had never made them blow up! Well, save for that one time- No, wait, that was besides the point! Akko stood, ready to complain, when she noticed something.

Sucy hadn’t been doing experiments, or it didn’t look like it. Sure, she had her vials up there, as usual, but none of them had changed from what Akko remembered.

And now, in the corner of the desk, inside a little pot, sat the hydrangea Akko had gifted her.

With a smile, Akko forgot about her complain and focused solely on changing her clothes. It seemed that Diana was right. Whether she admitted it or not, Akko _was_ getting through to Sucy.

When she fell asleep, she was still smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2, chapter 2. Remember, this was a piece for HollowClock! Hope you're enjoying it!


	3. Chapter 3

Sucy looked at the clear liquid inside the flask. Steam slowly rose from it, as it was an incredibly cold substance. Sucy carefully brought a dropper up to the flask, putting one, two, three drops of a red substance that swirled and twisted like ink when it fell into the clear liquid.

When it was done mixing, the remaining thing looked like a cherry drink. You’d probably die if you drank this, though. Without the probably.

Step one finished. Slowly, Sucy reached to the side to pick a second dropper. One drop of this liquefied diamond and she’d have a perfect beautification potion. Drinking it would make you reach your highest potential according to your own perception. It wouldn’t last long, but…

“Sucy!” Akko barged into the room, the door creating an air current strong enough to make Sucy’s hair wave. The cry made Sucy jump, and she dropped the entire contents of the dropper into the potion. “Come, I want you to—” Sucy raised a hand, shutting her up.

She stared at the flask for a second. Carefully, she opened the window and threw it out.

The entire thing exploded before it touched the ground.

She turned to look at Akko. “What did you need, again?”

Akko stared at the window in confusion. She shook it off, however, and stared at Sucy. “Are you going to help out or not?”

“Sure,” Sucy shrugged. Her experiment was ruined anyways, so she might as well find something else to do.

Once outside, Sucy noticed two things.

One, her experiment hadn’t exploded per-se, it had expanded and solidified so fast that it had created an explosion-like sound. Two, she could probably repeat this experiment and sell the resulting balls that looked like rubies the size of a head to earn back the money she’d wasted.

Or maybe not. That was potentially illegal. And dangerous.

Looking around to make sure no-one saw her, Sucy took out her wand and did a little shrinking spell. She’d dispose of the ball later.

She turned just in time to see Akko fly by on her broom. Akko had placed her, Lotte, Amanda and Constanze on different sides of the school so that they all could try to measure exactly how well she was doing. Looking at it objectively, Akko wasn’t doing particularly good. But compared to how she normally did this seemed to be a good day.

Why wasn’t her girlfriend around, anyways? ‘Studying’ sounded like a por excuse.

The second time Akko came around, Sucy also noticed the smile and wave. She watched her pass without moving from her place, but her eyes followed the brunette up until the point she disappeared behind a corner.

Dropping to the ground, Sucy took her little red marble out once again. While it was small, it still weighed, so it pressed down on her hand with an interesting effect.

She was still looking at it when Akko came once again. “Sucy!” She complained as the purple-haired girl looked up. “Pay attention!”

“You’re doing great,” Sucy said.

“You’re just saying that!”

“What else is there to say?” Sucy shrugged.

“Well, for starters, you could- Ah!” Akko was moving wildly, and her broom suddenly pointed down. Unable to control it, the brunette hit the ground face-first and stayed there for a few seconds.

Sucy cackled. “Gotta admit, you’re really starting to sell me on that face-landing technique.”

Akko groaned, pushing herself off the ground and rubbing her face. “Shut up,” she said, grabbing her broom and mounting it again. “It’s your fault for distracting me,” she restarted her fly, mumbling something as she disappeared around the corner again.

As time moved forward, Sucy couldn’t help being somewhat impressed by Akko’s constant flying around. When she really tried, she _could_ do great. After many, many, many failures. Too many, maybe. But she did reach her goal eventually.

She was seventeen years old, but she flew like a five year old. Even then, she wasn’t discouraged to keep going every day. And for what it was worth, she was making progress. Slow, but for someone who’d only learnt to fly less than a year ago she wasn’t doing too badly.

Could Sucy, maybe, create a potion that’d help her out? Unlikely. Potions couldn’t give someone knowledge, unless they were extracted from someone else. Maybe Sucy could steal someone’s knowledge of broom flying to give it to Akko. But Akko would probably just refuse the help. She wanted to get better by herself.

Akko flew by once again, and Sucy gave her a thumb up when she did. Akko clearly took this the wrong way, seemingly thinking Sucy was now paying actual attention to her flying, for she smiled and giggled before disappearing once again.

The next time she appeared, she stopped. Sucy looked up. Had she done something wrong?

“Amanda grew bored and left, Constanze was playing a videogame and Barbara came out of nowhere and now she and Lotte are reading! Can you believe this?!” Akko complained, getting off her broom.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m pretty damn bored too,” Sucy said.

Akko narrowed her eyes. “Then why’d you accept to come?”

“Because otherwise you become too annoying,” Sucy shrugged.

“Well maybe I won’t invite you over next time,” Akko said, but she still dropped right next to Sucy.

Sucy nodded. “Thank you.”

“You’re wel—”Akko paused. She processed it. “Hey!”

Chuckling, Sucy stood. “Come on, if you’re done, we could go check on the others.”

Akko stood reluctantly “Nah,” she shrugged. “They’re doing their own thing now. What do you wanna do?”

“Continue my experiments, hopefully without you around.”

“Well too bad!” Akko stuck out her tongue. “I’m gonna stick with you because I’ve nothing else to do!”

Sucy rolled her eyes, but didn’t complain. “Fine, but if you die, I won’t take responsibility.”

Akko frowned. “What does that mean?” she asked with a bit of uncertainty. Sucy ignored her, walking away. “Hey, answer me!”

Sucy didn’t, but Akko followed anyways.

“This is boooring,” Akko complained.

“I don’t understand why you’re following me around. You’d have more fun with Amanda, probably,” Sucy said as she made some calculations. A problem with magic potions was that, a lot of times, different ingredients wouldn’t have the intended effect when mixed with each other. The magical nature of everything turned things unpredictable. But Sucy had, in a way, learned to read that unpredictability. She was still wrong sometimes, but the fact that most of her experiments didn’t end up with wild adverse effects on her body was proof that she wasn’t half bad at what she did.

“Because Amanda ditched me, so I’m mad with her. You’re the only one that stuck around…” Akko laid back on her bed, sighing.

“Maybe next time your girlfriend should prioritize you rather than her studying,” Sucy said. She wasn’t sure of why she’d bring up Diana this way. Probably because she was part of the reason Sucy’s earlier experiment had gone wrong.

“That’s not fair. It’s like saying I should give up liking chariot because I like her. We shouldn’t change who we are to appeal to others,” Akko argued.

The response, surprisingly mature coming her, made Sucy reconsider. “I’m not saying she should give up studying, or not exactly. She could have offered to help you out, right?”

“She did, I didn’t want to.”

“Oh,” Sucy pressed her lips. She wasn’t sure why this whole Diana business made her think and say stupid shit all the time. She was probably just not used to the idea. “That’s better, I guess.”

While working with Akko next to her was usually dangerous, the brunette was surprisingly quiet today. She complained, but at least she wasn’t jumping around the room, so that was a plus.

For all her complaining, too, she sure remained right there. Sucy acted annoyed, but she was mostly used to having her teammate around. Plus, she liked having someone there to test things out. While Akko remained quiet, Sucy mixed a concoction. It had nothing to do with her current project, she just wanted to have some fun.

“Hey, Akko, try this,” she said when she was done, handing Akko a small wooden bowl with green, dough-like contents.

Akko looked at it with mistrust. “Why should I?”

“If you’re gonna stay, at least make yourself useful,” Sucy explained.

Akko clearly wasn’t buying it, but she still reluctantly reached for the small bowl and smelled it. “Hey, this smells kinda nice,” she said with surprise. Pinching a bit with her finger, she tried it. “It tastes sweet. Kinda like green tea candy,” she tried a bigger bite. “It’s actually good! I didn’t know you could cook.”

She ate the entire thing in less than fifteen seconds.

“I can, but that wasn’t cooking,” Sucy prepared a pen and a paper. “Now, if you would, what are you feeling?”

“Uhm…” Akko cocked her head. “Well, the aftertaste is sour. And I could swear I could feel it melting in my stomach, and…” She paused. “I feel lighter. Much lighter- Ouch,” she bumped her head on the top bunk.

Because she was floating.

“Huh, it works,” Sucy took a few notes.

“Hey, what did you- ooooh!” she tried to gesture as she usually did, but she accidentally flipped on her head. She was now upside down, and floated in the middle of the room. “S-sucy, I’m gonna fall!”

“Don’t worry, the effects of the artificial cloud should only last five minutes. Be sure to be above some bed before you fall though.”

“What’s an artificial- Ah!” As she gestured, Akko accidentally hit the bed with her fist. “Sucyyyy!” she complained. “Come on, get me down!”

“Just pull yourself down into your bed again,” Sucy sighed.

“I caaan’t reaaach iiiit,” Akko whined.

Just to shut her up, Sucy turned and pulled Akko down by the arm. The girl managed to flip in the air again, putting her feet on the ground, but not being able to stay there.

She locked Sucy in a tight hug. “Ha! Now I can’t float,” she claimed, victorious.

“I would appreciate it if you’d let me go,” Sucy said with a flat tone.

“Shut up, this is your fault, deal with it.”

Sucy groaned. Akko clinging to her like this wasn’t a first, so she knew there was little she could do to stop it. Akko was stronger and had a stronger will to annoy than Sucy to not be annoyed. “Why did you give me that anyways?”

“I thought it could help with your flying practices. That way, if you fall, you won’t die,” Sucy said with a shrug.

“Ah, see? You worry about—”

“Cleaning you off the ground would be a pain,” Sucy interrupted.

Akko gave her a flat look. Sucy chuckled.

She got an idea. Akko was truly weightless at the moment, but what if… “Hey, Akko, hold this,” Sucy handed her the red ball.

Akko took it.

Sucy shook her off.

Akko fell to the ground.

“W-what is this?” Akko complained. “It’s so heavy!”

“Use that to weigh you down,” Sucy offered. “And stop—”

“I refuse,” Akko dropped the red marble and pushed herself towards Sucy. Sucy _could_ have dodged her, but then Akko would have crashed into the desk where all her materials were currently set up, and that could be extremely dangerous. In the end, she got hugged again. “Take responsibility for your actions.”

“You’re suffocating me,” Sucy complained.

“Deal with it.”

She did.

Sucy stood there for the next two or so minutes. Then three, and then… wait, Akko had been hugging her for far too long. Hadn’t she? Or was the boredom bending time to make it seem like longer?

Wait, Akko was definitely weighing down on her now, wasn’t she…?

The door opened.

“Hello?” Diana’s head peeked into the room. She saw Akko and Sucy hugging.

Sucy froze. Stupid Akko. What if Diana- “Oh, hey Diana,” Akko let go of Sucy and turned to her with a smirk. So she _had_ held on to her for longer than needed! Damn it, that was wasted time… “You’re done with your studies?”

“For today, yes,” Diana nodded. She looked at Sucy with a bit of a neutral stare before smiling to Akko. “So I came to look for you.”

“Then let’s go do something fun!” Akko said with excitement. She turned to Sucy. “Wanna come?”

“Hell no,” Sucy backed off. She’d already spent too much time with Akko today.

Akko clearly considered pushing Sucy into it, but after a moment she pointed at Sucy. “Fine, but next time warn me about the effects a potion will have.”

Diana instantly gave Sucy a stare that would have cut through steel. “Potion, you say?”

“That wasn’t a potion, technically,” Sucy shrugged and turned, pretending nonchalance.

Diana hummed, unconvinced.

“Whatever,” Akko said. “Let’s go, Diana,” she started pulling on her girlfriend.

“Wait, Akko-” she wasn’t even able to finish the sentence, for Akko dragged her out of the room with superior strength and energy.

Sucy sat back on the desk, looking t the red marble Akko had dropped. She took a second to enjoy the peace and quiet Akko leaving had brought. Then, she smiled. While she’d never admit it, that had been kind of fun.

What wasn’t fun, though, was having to deal with a couple.

Wednesday afternoon rolled around, and instead of Akko, it was Lotte and Barbara annoying her this time.

“So this is the spirit of my crystal ball,” Barbara said after the redhead finished singing. A little blue ghost-like creature had emerged from the crystal ball the black-haired girl held carefully, and it was smiling with a tiny and admittedly cute face.

“Yep,” Lotte nodded. “The older something is, the more likely it’ll have a spirit. You said this has been in your family for a while, right? He’s got a lot to tell,” she smiled to the creature.

Sucy rolled her eyes.

This was, arguably, less annoying than Akko. Yet, it was more distracting. With Akko Sucy knew what to expect, but these two were a new variable into an equation Sucy thought she had already figured out. She wasn’t even sure of why she was bothered by them, really. They knew to stay clear from her desk. It must have been Barbara. The girl didn’t often come into their room and it was clear she didn’t quite grow used to the reduced space.

She and Lotte talked with the spirit of her ball, with Lotte translating, while Sucy checked on her mushrooms and took care of them. Some of them she’d enhanced, some she modified, others she’d purposefully poisoned. She wanted to see all possible reactions and document them, because these mushrooms were incredibly important in the making of potions and poisons.

It took her about half an hour to go through all of her mushrooms. By the time she was done, Lotte and Barbara had already moved on to another topic. They were laughing at things online, or watching videos, while Sucy wondered where Akko was. Had she said something about Amanda? She was probably getting into trouble right now.

Well, at least she hadn’t dragged Sucy into it this time. Hopefully she wouldn’t do anything too bad…

Sucy sighed. She almost wished Akko had dragged her into her shenanigans this time. Dealing with her and Diana as a couple was bound to be more interesting than these two bookworms.

She’d have to find the monkey’s paw that had granted her ‘wish’ and burn it.

“I hate you,” Sucy said, sitting on a bench.

“No you don’t,” Akko smiled. “You actually read the rules, I know you like the game,” she said as she put another card down.

Sucy groaned. Akko had dragged her into her shenanigans today… by making her play with the Chariot TGC because she wanted to teach Diana how it was done. Sucy had only learnt the rules so that Akko would stop making things up, but now she deeply regretted her decision.

“I don’t fully understand why your card is stronger than Sucy’s,” Diana said.

“Because she’s cheating. She picked the strong cards for herself,” Sucy said.

Akko gave her a flat look. “It’s because the Chimera has a field advantage over the mandrake right now,” she corrected.

It was obvious Diana didn’t understand a thing. Sucy sighed. Why had she agreed to this? Besides wrongfully believing she’d have something interesting to do.

Well, the answer was simple. Because Akko had asked her too. And otherwise she’d become insufferable. But next time, Sucy would order some cards online to teach Akko a lesson.

“Hey, Sucy, gimmie some of that,” Akko said, looking at Sucy’s plate.

Sucy frowned. “No.”

Dinner had gotten considerably better in Luna Nova since the past year. With magic renewed, new students and the world’s newfound interest in the magical arts, they had a lot more money. Which meant they could now pick foods that weren’t potatoes, and every night there were three to five menus to pick from.

“Come on,” Akko had asked for a piece of beef with a side of fries, while Sucy had picked a salad.

“Diana got the same, ask her,” Sucy pointed at Diana’s plate.

“But Diana’s has raisins,” Akko said.

“Mine does too,” Sucy deadpanned.

“I saw you picking them one by one and eating them alone, now yours doesn’t!” Akko said. Sucy frowned. Why had Akko looked at her while eating? “Come on, just a bite, I’ll give you a piece of beef in exchange.”

Sucy considered this. “First, playing cards. Now you wanna steal my food,” she complained, but Akko was giving her a pleading look that was hard to ignore. She didn’t want to eat beef right now, but… “Ok, fine,” she said, letting Akko stab her salad with a fork and bring out a bunch of lettuce and tomato and shove it in her mouth. A second later, she cut off a relatively big chunk of her beef and dropped it in Sucy’s plate.

“There. Thank you,” Akko smiled.

Sucy looked at the beef. She cut it in three and ate each piece slowly. “This is too dry,” she complained.

“I know right? The faeries got too used to doing potatoes, I guess,” Akko sighed.

Sucy didn’t reply. She now focused on finishing her salad before Akko asked for more.

“Ok, so, what do we do tomorrow?” Akko asked the table in general. Everyone looked at her with slightly confused expressions. “Come on, it’s Saturday, and we don’t have exams anytime close. We could all go hang out together, right?”

“Sorry, me, Jasna are going to be helping Cons with a project tomorrow,” Amanda said.

“And we have to read a small side-story novella for nightfall!” Lotte said with excitement. With ‘we’ she obviously referred to Barbara.

Akko looked at Hannah. The auburn-haired girl snorted. “Hell no, thank you.”

Then she looked at Sucy. Sucy shook her head. “I have to take care of some night mushrooms. I’ll be sleeping at least until noon,” she said.

Akko narrowed her eyes, but Sucy wasn’t lying this time. She was almost tempted to say yes, but those mushrooms needed to be taken care of at least once a month.

“Well, maybe I’ll go grab you after lunch,” Akko said.

Sucy shook her head. How insistent could she be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third day, third chapter. What could possibly go wrong? This is obviously a very fluff-filled fic.  
> If you're enjoying this, don't forget to leave a comment! And thank HollowClock for asking for it!


	4. Chapter 4

Sucy looked at the red liquid inside the flask. It bubbled slightly, despite the lack of fire, but that was normal for plenty of potions, and more so one which included dragon spit. She took a deep breath, calming her pulse, as she brought a small dropper with a clear liquid close to the potion’s top. Only one drop. Anything else would cause a reaction and the it would overheat, evaporate, and fill their room with deadly gas.

Well, not ‘deadly’, but Sucy didn’t want to go bald.

Just one drop…

She paused, listening carefully. No running in the hallways, no yells out the window. As far as she could tell, Akko was nowhere around. After making sure of that, she relaxed and finally let the drop of liquid fall on her potion. The bubbling subsided, the red changed to a deep purple, and Sucy was satisfied with her results.

But now she had finished the last experiment she had to do today. It was somewhere close to two PM, if she was right, which meant she had a full day ahead of her.

And nothing to really fill it with.

Sucy had woken up not long ago, and she’d taken the chance of Akko having gone to hang out with Diana to do all she needed to do. Lotte had gone with Barbara, as she’d said the day prior, and so Sucy would have the room to herself all day, which was nice, but the problem was that she didn’t have that many experiments to do, at least not until some other things were ready first.

Which meant Sucy was now alone and bored.

Well, she was sure Akko would probably come grab her to hang out at any time, like she’d said she would. It seemed like getting a girlfriend had changed very little about her attitude in general. Yeah. In the meantime, she’d use her crystal ball to ask for some more ingredients.

Akko did not come.

By the time dinner came around, Sucy found herself in an increasingly bad mood. She wasn’t sure of why, she should’ve been glad Akko had left her alone for an entire day. Instead, she felt like something as missing. What could Diana and Akko do for an entire day, anyways?

Maybe it was best not to think about it too much.

“The table’s kinda empty today, isn’t it,” Amanda commented, drumming with her fingers. With the two couples missing, there were only five of them there at the moment. And even then, Constanze and Jasminka barely spoke, so it actually counted as three. Which would’ve been fine, if they had at least something in common. “I should get a girlfriend too…”

“Nines spare anyone from having to date you,” Hannah commented with a smirk.

Amanda raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Are you flirting with me?”

Sucy rolled her eyes at Hannah’s reaction, an over-the-top offended face. “As if!”

It seemed like everyone was out to get someone on their bed today. Sucy ignored the following conversation, not interested in the banter between the other two speaking members of their table, and instead looked around. She was… annoyed. She could feel it. Maybe it was the change to her routine, the fact that she was so used to having Akko around that now a part of her seemed to be missing.

Or maybe it was the fact that she knew Akko wasn’t coming because she was having more fun with someone else. Maybe she could somehow make Akko want to spend more time with her anyways. Poisoning herself again, maybe? Like that dream she’d had where…

 _What are you thinking?_ Sucy shook her head. _Stop being an idiot. Diana’s a novelty, Akko will go back to more or less normal eventually._

She would.

Right?

Sucy was fed up with Akko and her relationship.

Seeing Akko constantly making eyes to Diana was annoying enough, but her teammate being constantly distracted was a true pain for group work. She kept bumping into Sucy, messing up her concentration, and the entire day had been a long pain in the ass.

In the afternoon, though, the things she’d ordered arrived. Wonderful. All these new materials would last her a month. Assuming _someone_ didn’t ruin all of her experiments. In any case, today was Monday, which meant Akko would come looking for her. She’d practice her broom flying, Sucy would mock her when she attempted to do some of the things Diana or Amanda did and failed, and an afternoon would be wasted in mindless fun.

Well, ‘fun’. Akko would have fun. Sucy, Lotte and whoever else appeared would probably distract themselves with other stuff.

Sucy began preparing her supplies, but didn’t think too hard about working because she was sure Akko would show up any second now.

Well, maybe while she waited she could organize her clothes or something, instead of starting something she knew she wouldn’t be able to finish. And now that she thought about it, when was the last time someone had cleaned their room properly? Lotte had been rather busy with Barbara lately, and Akko sure as hell didn’t ever do anything.

She took out her wand and commanded the broom to start swiping. As she watched it go, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Akko had fallen asleep outside. Wouldn’t be the first time. Plus, today had been a rather tiring…

Someone flew past the window.

Frowning, Sucy leaned over the desk, trying to see better. And a second later, Akko flew by, far slower, with a wide smile in her face. She spotted Sucy inside the room and waved right as she disappeared. After approaching the window, Sucy could see two figures flying around. Akko and Diana, obviously.

By the looks of it, Diana was teaching Akko how to perform some basic maneuvers. Akko had gotten better at flying over the past year, but she wasn’t ready to be taught advanced things… or so she’d thought. Sucy pressed her lips. The things Diana was teaching her were… Well, things she also knew. She just had never really thought of showing Akko how to do them.

Turning around, Sucy pressed her lips. Akko had decided to go with Diana. She should’ve expected that, after what had happened last Monday.

With a flick of her wrist, she put the broom back in its corner.

Well, whatever. That meant she wouldn’t be bothered, so now she could focus on doing her things. This was what she preferred. Sitting and doing her experiments, advancing her research. Not having Akko around to annoy her was a good thing. Definitely.

“She’s more responsible than I thought. She was cleaning your room,” Diana commented to Akko after their fly around Luna Nova was over.

“Was she? I didn’t notice,” Akko was softly patting her broom. She knew they weren’t alive, but she liked to think being nice to it made it easier to fly. Her theory hadn’t been corroborated by anything but she hadn’t died, so who knew?.

“Yeah. And the second time we flew through she was extracting something from a mushroom.”

“Well, that does sound more like Sucy,” Akko chuckled. “If she’s not talking about poison or mushrooms it’s probably because she’s making fun of me.”

Diana hummed thoughtfully. “That’s fairly accurate.”

The top of New Moon tower was a nice spot to look around. It gave Akko some vertigo, but as long as she held on to her broom she wasn’t in any real danger. And even then, Diana was still there, ready to come to her rescue at any given time.

“I wonder, though,” Diana spoke again. “I didn’t want to say anything because I don’t really know her, but… Doesn’t it bother you?”

Akko looked at her with some surprise. “Sometimes,” her answer was quick, but honest. “She can be mean, and sometimes she has offended me, but… she never does it with a malicious intent,” Akko shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure of what is going on in her life, since she doesn’t really open up, but it’s easy to tell she’s gone through some stuff.”

“Is that really an excuse?” Diana’s met Akko’s eyes. What others may have considered ill-intentioned questions were ones Akko was actually glad Diana was asking. She wasn’t doing this because she wanted to change Akko’s mind in respect to Sucy, but because she wanted to understand her better.

“It depends, I guess,” Akko’s feet, dangling off the side of the tower, started tapping against the wall. “Sucy has been a good friend, despite her more… Toxic tendencies—and I’m not referring to her poisons. I can understand why people don’t like her, but I also see beyond that. She’s loyal and even if she doesn’t show it, I know she cares. She’s a tough one to break—maybe even tougher than you, in some ways,” Akko reached to the side and grabbed Diana’s hand. “But I know I she’s worth it.”

Diana remained silent for a good while. Akko could almost hear the gears of her mind turning, trying to understand and squeeze all the meaning out of Akko’s words. She squeezed Akko’s hand before she spoke again. “I can’t say I fully understand, but I guess that’s also a part of you that I like. How you’re able to see past our façades and see us for who we truly are,” she caressed Akko’s knuckles with her thumb. “So, you’re going to talk with her today or…?”

“I think I’d rather follow your advice,” Akko said. “I’m not going to overwhelm her. She’s kinda like you in that regard. I think I already annoyed her enough last week, and if I push her too hard she’ll just withdraw deeper into her shell. I’ll give her a few days of rest.”

“It’s probably for the best,” Diana nodded. “She seemed really focused on her potions, anyways. She would have probably been annoyed if you interrupted her now.”

Akko sighed. “We need to get a sign that says ‘Sucy working, do not bother’ or something like that for our room. But signs are against the rules…”

Diana hummed. “Well, we may be able to do something about that…”

“Busy,” Sucy said, voice a monotone, when Lotte asked her if she wanted to hang out.

“You’ve been doing potions all week. What are you even working on?” Lotte leaned over her shoulder.

“Nothing you’d understand,” Sucy replied.

Lotte hummed, unconvinced. “I mean, if you’re sure…”

Sucy barely even noticed when she closed the door.

It was Friday at this point, and three things had become quite clear during the week: One, Sucy was now free to enjoy a _lot_ of alone time. Two, dinners had become a flirt-fest, with two couples at the table and Amanda taking every chance she got to tease Hannah.

Third, Akko enjoyed her time with Diana far more than Sucy had anticipated.

But then again, what did Sucy know about relationships? She only had two friends. She had never fallen in love, she didn’t even have parents. The closest relationship she’d had was with her caretaker, and even then, Sucy had always known she didn’t belong with her or in the orphanage.

She sighed. What was it with all these thoughts lately? She hadn’t been this gloomy since… Since before coming to Luna Nova.

Distracted by her thoughts, she accidentally touched something with her elbow.

The sound of a something breaking a second later snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked down at the floor, where a dark mass now stood. Little shards of reddish stone were scattered around the floor, and violet petals had been crushed under the weight of it all.

Great, she’d dropped the hydrangea.

Tired, she used her wand to quickly clean up the mess. It had been a careless mistake, one she shouldn’t have ever made, but there it was. Taking out her wand, she quickly wiped everything from the floor. A ball of dirt, pottery and flower floated up, encased in a green bubble. She wondered if she could fix it, somehow. She could easily separate the dirt from the pottery and fix the pot, but the crushed flower would require a lot more work. It had taken some effort to keep it alive with water and magic, after all, and…

What the hell was she doing?

With a flick of her wrist she simply threw everything on the table. She turned to her desk again, seeing all the random experiments she’d performed during the week, and closed her eyes. It was incredible how productive she could be when Akko wasn’t around.

It was incredible how _miserable_ she felt when Akko wasn’t around. To not see her shining eyes, her gleaming smile. To not hear her upbeat voice or to feel her touch when she completely ignored all rules of personal space.

Sucy covered her face, wishing she could turn back time and tell Akko to not confess. The conversation played in her head, the massive misunderstanding that Sucy had let herself believe. She ran her hands through her hair, the eye she always had covered wincing slightly at the sudden light.

She saw the now empty spot on the corner of her desk, where the stupid flower had been resting. A silly gift from Akko.

A silly gift from the girl she liked.

 _Why am I such an idiot?_ Sucy thought as the realization dawned on her. Of course she liked Akko. Of fucking course. The first person to truly accept her as she was. The only person who wasn’t intimidated by her and kept being her friend despite all of Sucy’s dangerous tendencies.

The one person in this world Sucy had come to take for granted. And now, here she was. Alone.

_I’m such an idiot._

_I’m such an idiot._

_I’m such an idiot…_

_Ok, I’ve given Sucy an entire week to relax,_ Akko thought as she and Diana walked into the cafeteria and looked around for their friends, _so she’s bound to be more receptive now, right?_

They found their table fairly quickly. However, something was apparent from the very start: The lack of a purple-haired witch. Frowning, Akko sat and looked at the rest of the table. She’d spent her afternoon doing homework—mainly because Diana had forced her—and she had clearly missed whatever it was that made Sucy absent.

“Where’s Sucy?” Akko asked after a general greeting.

“She was pretty focused on her experiments,” Lotte shrugged. “Maybe she hasn’t realized what time it is. I should go fetch her…”

“Akko can go,” Diana nudged Akko. “She runs faster, anyways.”

Akko looked at Diana, wondering… Oh, right! Yeah, a chance to talk alone! What a wonderful person. “I’ll go,” Akko stood, “Diana, please fetch my food. Lotte, you grab Sucy’s.”

They nodded and Akko gave them a thumbs up, proceeding to leave.

Their room was… dark.

Akko opened the door carefully and peeked inside, where Sucy was indeed tucked in her bed. That was a little strange. Maybe she was tired? Whatever it was, Akko hesitated, wondering if she should…

“Either enter or get out, but please close the door,” Sucy said.

Akko laughed nervously as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. The curtains weren’t drawn today, so she could see thanks to the moonlight. She carefully walked to her bed, where she sat, looking at Sucy, who faced the wall. That was strange too, Sucy always slept belly up.

“Are you feeling ok?” Akko asked, worried.

“Trying to sleep, as you can see,” Sucy said in a not-so-subtle way of telling Akko to shut up.

Akko pressed her lips. “Aren’t you going to eat? I got Lotte to grab you some food.”

“Not hungry,” Sucy replied. Was her voice coarse? She sounded tired. She _had_ been working like crazy this week. She was almost like Diana studying when she focused on her potions or mushroom studies. Akko smiled thinking of that. She guessed that was her type.

“I see. Uhm… Can we talk, for a minute?” Akko tapped her foot. She’d been thinking really hard about how to approach this. It had gone well with Diana, but it was hard to tell if it’d be the same for Sucy.

“Akko, I really want sleep,” Sucy said.

Akko pressed her lips. She considered dragging Sucy down to dinner anyways, but she didn’t want her to be mad right now. “Ok, I’ll leave you be. But we need to talk tomorrow, ok?”

“Sure, whatever,” Sucy shifted in bed.

Not fully satisfied, but not wanting to force the issue, Akko raised again. “I’ll sneak up some bread or something for you to eat if you get hungry during the night.”

Sucy didn’t answer. Had she fallen asleep already? That was fast. Sighing, and disappointed by her failure to talk, Akko slowly left the room. “Sleep well, Sucy,” she said before closing the door behind her.

“Sleep well, Sucy.”

Akko’s last words before she left felt like a stab.

Nines be damned, Sucy had barely been able to hold back from snapping at Akko. Figuring out her feelings made everything so much harder. Why was her chest so tight? Why did it feel like someone was squeezing the life out of her heart and trying to rip it off? All she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and forget. While in her dreams there was no Akko, no relationship, no…

 _That’s a lie, though._ During the day, Sucy had recalled the sleep incident from last year. Memories were fuzzy, but she remembered the basics. Particularly, some of Akko’s words during it. And how she’d tried to kiss her.

Well, not a kiss. She had been trying to feed her. But now Sucy wondered if things would’ve gone different if she’d let Akko do it.

Useless pondering. It was too late for her, anyways. Feelings or not, she couldn’t let Akko know of them. She was such a nice idiot; she might end up actually doing something stupid for Sucy’s sake. No. Sucy wouldn’t do that to her. She had already caused her enough problems, using her as a guinea pig every other week. This was what she deserved.

She scoffed to herself in the night. Pathetic. Self pitying like this. She got what she had coming to her. Akko was happy, that was all that mattered.

Or at least, it should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fourth chapter, as it is stated in the numbered chapter titles.  
> Yeah I don't really know what to say here. Leave a comment! Thanks to HollowClock!


	5. Chapter 5

Diana Cavendish had a dilemma.

On the one hand, she _really_ wanted to go meet her girlfriend. It was Saturday, so she had the entire day free. On the other hand, she _really_ should get back to studying. Helping Akko with her homework was hardly a challenge for her, and going on little walks and dates through the week most definitely hadn’t helped.

But after just waking up and deciding what to do, all she could picture was Akko. Her eyes sparkling with excitement, the way her teeth were almost blinding when she smiled. Diana almost threw away her notion of studying completely.

Akko, though, was going to have a chat with Sucy today. Maybe Diana should be there with her. She had the feeling it would make things easier. And yet, it was something that Akko had asked her to do alone, at least for now. Whatever her reason, Diana respected it, even if she disagreed with the idea that it’d be better to do it that way.

So she would just go back to her stud—

A knocking on her door—quick and insistent—told her Akko was there.

“Sweet nines it’s only nine AM tell her to shut up,” Hannah complained from bed.

Smiling, Diana opened the door. Akko stood outside, looking sad. Diana gave her an inquiring look.

“Sucy disappeared,” Akko lamented.

“Take it outside,” Hannah ordered. With a sigh, Diana stepped out of the room.

“What do you mean, disappeared?”

“I woke up and she was gone. She’s not at the cafeteria either, and I’ve no idea where else could she be.” Akko crossed her arms. “I told her I wanted to speak with her, too. You wouldn’t happen to have, like, finding spells, right?”

Diana pressed her lips. “While I do know some of them,” she confirmed, “I think the morality of stalking someone with magic is not a thing I really want to have to deal with.”

“But she said we’d talk! She should keep her word,” Akko said, sulking.

“I do agree with that, but as far as you know, maybe she’s just in the bathroom.” Despite what she said, she did have to wonder if maybe this was something else. Missing dinner and breakfast couldn’t be healthy. Then again, she’d gone to sleep rather early, so it’d make sense that she had woken up earlier too and had gone to the kitchens before any of them.

“Maybe she’s avoiding me, maybe I’ve been too obvious or something,” Akko looked down.

“Are you giving up, then?”

Sighing, Akko looked up. “Of course not, but I don’t really want to run up and down Luna Nova until I find her. Come on, just a little help?”

The puppy-eyed look Akko wore could be used as a blunt weapon. Diana bit her lip, unable to say no. “Ok, but it won’t say her exact location. It will just tell you the general area she’s in, got it?”

Akko’s smile returned. “You’re the best!”

Diana’s heart skipped a beat. Why was Akko so cute? Diana seriously needed to build some resistance to her charms, lest Akko end up convincing her studying wasn’t so important anyways.

Sucy groaned. “What am I doing…?”

She sat in the middle of the forest, back against a tree trunk, too much of a coward to go back to Luna Nova. She knew she was being stupid. She’d have to go back to eat and go to class. But she didn’t want to talk with Akko. Was she going to ask for romantic advice again? Sucy didn’t want to give more. She’d already done enough.

Going on an early morning mushroom hunt may have not been the best excuse, but she needed time to think and process. One day just wasn’t enough. Her mind kept going back to all the things she’d done to Akko over the past year and she winced at every memory of mean answers, experimenting and insulting.

Yet, another part of her rolled her eyes. _Now_ she got sentimental? She should go and take it like a woman. What good would it do, sitting here and sulking? Nothing. Yet… Damn it, she was going in circles. Whatever, she didn’t care. She just wanted to sit here, for now.

Her stomach growled.

“Shut up,” Sucy said. She hadn’t eaten in quite a while at this point and she was really feeling the hunger to the point where she’d considered eating some of the mushrooms she’d picked raw. They wouldn’t kill her, but eating them like that was still a bad idea.

Her only companions were trees and birds, Sucy found that she didn’t feel so lonely when she was away from everyone. She’d always enjoyed her own company, after all.

“There you are!”

Sucy frowned, looking up.

Akko had somehow found her, and she was running to her with a rather menacing face.

For someone as clumsy as her, she sure as hell didn’t seem to find any trouble in running through the root-filled, brush-covered floor of the forest without a hitch. Sucy started to dread the moment Akko got close, but she also couldn’t take her eyes off her. Like a shining beacon in the dark, Akko was painfully brilliant, but it was impossible to look away.

She came to a halt in front of Sucy, looking mad. “Hey, you told me we’d talk today, why’d you left?!” her voice was so loud that Sucy winced.

“It’s still today, isn’t it? I didn’t say we’d do it first thing in the morning,” Sucy replied, looking away. “How did you find me, anyways?”

“I have my methods,” Akko said, attempting to be mysterious.

Sucy, who could count past five, figured it out quickly. “Diana helped you didn’t she,” she stated.

“… yes,” Akko sighed, sitting in front of Sucy. “Hey, look at me.”

 _I don’t want to,_ Sucy thought. She did it anyways. Akko was close to her. Really close. With her legs crossed, she was leaning forward. _I could easily lean and kiss her,_ Sucy thought, feeling like a horrible person for it. “What is it?” She asked in a low voice, begging Akko would just leave her alone.

Akko didn’t answer immediately, instead just looking at her face. “You’re really pretty, you know that?”

Sucy’s heart did a somersault. Sucy’s brain chastised it for it. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“I was just thinking, you always keep your hair over your face, why do that?”

Sucy shrugged. “It’s a pain to constantly put it behind my ear, and I don’t care for headbands. It’s nothing too deep, I just don’t care… Why are you even asking me this?” She grew annoyed. What was this heat on her face? Was she… was she blushing? “What did you want to talk about?”

Akko hesitated. Pressing her lips, she smiled nervously. It was almost as if she was about to confess or something. Sucy laughed internally. Even now, all she could do was- “I like you.”

Sucy blinked. Had she heard that right?

“Repeat that,” she ordered, because she was one hundred percent sure she couldn’t have heard what she did.

Akko smiled. “I like you.”

Sucy frowned. “You mean, as a friend,” she said, trying to find the logical explanation for this surreal exchange.

To her surprise, Akko giggled. “Don’t be silly. Do you think I’d say that in this context?” She reached forward, grabbing Sucy’s hand. “I _like_ you. As in, romantically.”

Sucy shook the hand off, frowning. However, the frown disappeared, then came back, and… What was she even feeling? What _was_ this conversation? “Akko,” Sucy asked, extremely confused. “You’re dating Diana.”

“I am,” Akko nodded.

“So why…”

“I also like you,” Akko’s eyes were intense and honest.

Sucy believed her. That didn’t mean she understood. A wave of dizziness hit her, and she reached to grab her head to try to calm it. Too many things at once. Akko was usually random, but this was a step forward. “Let me get this straight. You’re dating Diana, but now you’re telling me you like me too?” Akko nodded eagerly. Sucy closed her eyes. Akko liked them both. That meant she was… poly, right? But wasn’t that too convenient? Maybe she’d realized how Sucy felt and was doing this to make her feel better. No, that was stupid. Not even Sucy had realized until yesterday. “Ok then,” she opened her eyes again. “Prove it,” Sucy said. “Kiss me.”

Akko’s eyes widened, and her face turned red. “Y-you sure?” She smiled nervously. Maybe she was just bluffing, but…

“You’re actually willing to do it,” Sucy realized.

“Well, duh, I just told you I like you.”

“But… You’d be cheating on Diana.”

Akko snorted. “I already talked with her about it. I told her the day we got together,” she said with some pride in her voice. “She’s an amazing girl, too.”

 _Far better than I am,_ Sucy thought. Of all the things that could have happened, she certainly didn’t see this one coming. Her head hurt from everything going through it. “So… what, you want to date me too?”

“If you’re willing to,” Akko said. She looked… hopeful.

Sucy instantly knew she couldn’t do it.

Weren’t poly relationships meant to be a three-way thing? Or as many ways as it had, but the point was she sure as hell didn’t feel anything towards Diana. Would this count more as an open relationship? Hell, Sucy didn’t understand how standard relationships worked. This was like trying to run before learning to walk.

More importantly, what did she have on Diana? She could see how things would go. Akko would simply end up liking Diana more than her. Diana was… better. Nicer, prettier, smarter, more talented. The only thing Sucy had on her was her knowledge on potions and mushrooms, and that was useless in a relationship.

What was that pounding? Ah, her heart. Looking at Akko in the eyes, she knew Akko had probably not realized how much this would affect Sucy. It was fair, though. Sucy rarely reacted to things wildly. This was… “Akko, I don’t…” Sucy didn’t know how to refuse. She didn’t _want_ to refuse. Akko holding her, kissing her… She wanted that. But she didn’t want to have to… what, compete? Or share. Maybe that was it.

“Hey,” Akko put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok, you don’t have to answer now. You can ask if you want to understand me better. Diana asked a lot.” Her smile was physically painful.

“I just… Need to think. Alone, if possible.”

Akko pouted, which almost made Sucy want to tell Akko to stay, but she was having an emotional breakdown on so many levels that she simply closed her eyes again and let Akko stand and walk away. “Talk to me when you’ve come up with an answer… or if you need anything, alright?”

Sucy didn’t answer.

Akko walked away.

By the time Sucy stood up to go back to school, her stomach hurt a _lot_.

She was exhausted, emotionally. She’d gone through so many emotions in the past day, when she normally wasn’t a very emotional person… It was as if she’d run a marathon. She would have gone straight to sleep again if she wasn’t so hungry.

It was around three PM by the time she reached the kitchens. While technically closed, she threatened the cooking faeries with poisoning the entire school’s supplies if they didn’t give her _something_ to eat. In the end, she’d been given some hard boiled eggs and toast. Basic, but she didn’t have the energy to argue.

Dating Akko. Now that she had thought about it for a long time, she could assess the situation calmly. That or her tiredness was forcing her to. Probably both. She knew why she didn’t accept immediately.

Self-esteem problems had always pursued her, from her unusual appearance to her particular interests, Sucy knew she was a strange girl. Even then, Akko liked her. That made her happy, and she would have smiled about it if it wasn’t because Akko also liked Diana.

Comparing yourself to others… Hadn’t Akko learned not to do that last year?

Sucy eyed the remnants of her food. It hadn’t been a lot, but she’d make it to dinner. In the meantime, maybe she should take a nap.

Maybe she’d find Akko in their room, though. Akko… Sucy still wondered how she should reject her. Everything had moved so fast that she wasn’t sure if she was even ready to give an answer. What if she said no and later regretted it? Or even worse: What if she said _yes_ and later regretted it?

Which option would cause her less pain?

There was also the option that she wouldn’t regret her actions but… Yeah, she didn’t count on that.

 _Maybe I could give it a shot,_ Sucy considered. _Go on a date. Not like the cinema thing. An actual date, with Akko. I’d like it to be just the two of us, but I guess it’s ok if Diana comes too…_ The idea didn’t sound especially appealing, but from a logical standpoint, it would definitely help her with her choice. And if she decided she didn’t want to date Akko afterwards, well, at least she’d have the certainty that she’d tried.

Yeah. Yeah, that was a good idea. The more she thought about it, the more Sucy felt the weight on her chest lessen. She’d talk to Akko about it. She’d probably accept. Would Diana? It probably didn’t matter, she’d go along with Akko anyways.

Just one date. And if it went wrong, well… better not to think about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Vathy speaking. This is me asking you to leave a comment.  
> That's it. Good day.  
> Also thanks HollowClock.


	6. Chapter 6

“I feel like I’m the one that came out losing in the end,” Akko said, annoyed, while looking disappointedly at her coffee.

“You did say I could pick any place I liked,” Diana gave her a cheeky smile.

“I thought we’d be doing something more… exciting, what kind of date is this?” Akko complained. “It’s Sunday afternoon, we should be watching a movie, or playing some games, or…”

Sucy shook her head.

Talking with Akko had gone fairly well. In fact, she’d been really excited about the idea of this… what would you call it? Triple date? No, that was when three couples went out together. One and a half date? Or maybe it was just a date. Sucy looked at Akko and Diana lightly banter. Akko had given Diana the pick of where to go—honestly, Sucy hadn’t cared that much. In fact, she preferred sitting and drinking a coffee rather than the idea of spending two hours saying nothing and watching a screen. That was fine for a fun night, but not her idea of a proper date. This place, however, with its old façade, its brick walls and stained glass windows depicting different fairy tail stories, the groovy music playing softly from the back, the general low volume of the conversations and its overall atmosphere… Diana definitely had some good taste.

Maybe the fact that Akko wasn’t enjoying it was a bit of a problem, but Sucy had the feeling Diana had picked this with that in mind.

Akko sighed. “When we finish this, we’re going to the park or something,” she declared.

“We could go back to Luna Nova. The forests there are far more impressive than anything here,” Sucy offered.

“And we wouldn’t risk coming back too late,” Diana nodded.

Akko rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever, but if you use it as an excuse to ditch us…” She gave a warning look to Sucy.

“Why would I do that? This was _my_ idea.”

Akko paused. “Oh, right.” She looked at Sucy and smiled. “We’re on a date, aren’t we?” Sucy didn’t know how to react, so she attempted to give a smile back. Akko giggled. “You should smile more confidently, you’re really cute, you know?”

“People always say I look evil when I smile,” Sucy replied.

“That’s because you have a tendency to smile evilly,” Akko shrugged. “But… Even that smile is cute, if you ask me.”

“Thanks.” Sucy felt the heat as it crawled up her face. Her eyes were drawn to Diana, wanting seeing her reaction. She didn’t seem particularly annoyed. This whole concept was still pretty alien to Sucy. Dating one person had already been out of her thoughts, but dating someone who was already dating someone else was… confusing.

Diana must have noticed Sucy’s stare, for she put down her cup of tea and smiled kindly. Sucy wasn’t sure what to make of it, so she simply sipped her coffee and tried to appear nonchalant.

“Ok, I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” Akko stood. She was probably just bored and wanted something to do. “Be right back.”

The silence she left behind could be touched.

Sucy stared at Diana, trying to measure how she felt about all of this. But Diana was impenetrable, her expression amicable but unchanging, like a mask. Sucy thought it fake, but she didn’t want to be mean. So far, this date had only been… hanging out normally, save for Akko openly flirting.

“Having doubts?” Diana asked.

Sucy’s first instinct was to avoid the question. Instead, for once, she tried being honest. “Maybe. More like just general uncertainty of the whole situation,” she explained.

Diana’s façade seemed to break, becoming more genuine. “Can’t say I don’t understand you. When Akko explained that she was poly it took me a while to wrap my head around it.”

Sucy nodded. “How did you… do it?”

“Well, her love for me is genuine. As is for you. I can see it in how she acts and how she speaks. It can take a while to get it, but… she likes us both equally. And I love her enough to want her to be happy, so if that entails her having two girlfriends, then I’m ok with it,” Diana sounded really mature. Normally, that’d piss Sucy off, but… she could see why so many people appreciated that aspect of her.

“Equally, huh?” Sucy laughed.

“What?” Diana raised an eyebrow.

“She sure as hell ran to confess to you first, when she came to ask me about it.” _Why are you saying that to her? You should talk with Akko about this._

Diana, to Sucy’s surprise, rolled her eyes. “Maybe she did because, and this is just a theory, you literally told her that love was for fools. I don’t want to take the credit, but she was _really_ down because of that, and it wasn’t until I encouraged her to keep trying that she went and invited you out anyways.”

Sucy narrowed her eyes. Was she being serious? Sucy… wasn’t sure she’d do the same, particularly if Akko told her the other person she liked was Diana. Was she a bad person for it? God, this was all so… confusing. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done this,” Sucy said. “I’m clearly not in the right mindset for it.”

Diana looked towards the bathroom, as if wanting to make sure Akko wasn’t yet coming back. “If I’m allowed to be honest,” she leaned closer, speaking in a low voice, “I don’t like you a lot, Sucy,” she stared Sucy in the eyes as she said it. “You perform dangerous experiments, use Akko as a guinea pig and are constantly mean to others.”

Sucy pressed her lips and looked away, unable to refute the facts.

“But,” Diana continued. “I know you care deeply for Akko. She’s never come hurt out of your experiments, and in your own way, you keep her safe. I realize you still haven’t forgiven Barbara and Hannah for how they’ve treated her, and you probably still think badly of me for a multitude of reasons,” she leaned back again. “But… You’re smart, far more creative than I am, and your expertise in potions and poisons is impressive. For all my knowledge, memorizing formulas and even coming up with potions is one of the things I’ve never been good at.”

“You have the highest grades in class, Diana,” Sucy deadpanned her.

“Because I follow instructions down to a T. You, instead, do mostly what you want and still get passing grades because professor Lukić knows you’re the best of us,” Diana quickly argued back. “And that was just me explaining that I don’t hate you, Sucy,” she looked at the bathrooms once more. What was Akko doing there, anyways? “Just… Don’t turn Akko down because you don’t understand her. Or because you dislike me. I’m sure you and me will eventually come to an understanding. We’ll go on as many dates as you need to figure it out.”

Her little speech left Sucy speechless, which was fine because she couldn’t have answered anyways as at that moment Akko decided to leave the bathroom.

“Ok, enough of this place,” Akko said as she arrived at the table, putting her hands on it. “Drink your things, pay up and let’s go.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you have an idea…?” Sucy asked.

“I have an idea,” Akko said, confirming Sucy’s suspicion. “No Luna Nova, no park. I know you’re gonna love it.”

Sucy and Diana exchanged a look. This being Akko, it was impossible to tell if this would go wonderfully or awfully. Probably both.

Still, as she finished her drink, Sucy couldn’t help feeling… lighter. Diana had been a little harsh, but she now better understood where she, and by proxy Sucy, stood in all of this.

And seeing Akko’s excitement, Diana did have a point: It was too soon to decide whether Sucy truly wanted this or not. Akko was giving her all the time she needed, so why make a hasty decision?

Sucy had to admit, Akko’s idea was a good one.

The top of this tower was, indeed, a wonderful place from where to watch a sunset.

Here, six stories up, a sea of houses below her, the orange sky with a hint of red darkening in the horizon.

“I thought you’d want us to run or something,” Sucy said, resting her arms on the railing. “Didn’t expect you to pick a place where we’d just stand and look at something.”

“This is way different than the café, though,” Akko was looking towards the horizon, her hair waving gently in the breeze. Sucy thought staring at her was far more interesting than staring at the sky. “Plus, we can start flying from here without people yelling at us.”

“Of course that’s why you’d pick this place,” Sucy smiled weakly. She didn’t miss that Diana had also given up on looking at the sunset to instead focus on watching Akko. They seemed to be fairly similar in more ways than one.

“Well, I also picked it because not a lot of people come up here,” she turned to look at the big bell behind them. “You think they’d be mad if I rang that giant bell and we flew away?”

“Don’t. You could scare people into thinking it’s not the hour they think it is, maybe even cause accidents,” Diana warned.

“And I don’t want to find out how loud it is when I’m this close to it,” Sucy added.

Akko gave them both flat stares. “I wasn’t going to actually do it, geez,” she said, offended.

Sucy and Diana raised eyebrows at the same time. Akko frowned even more. “… why do I get the feeling you’re going to team up against me all the time?”

“It’s not teaming up against you,” Diana said. “It’s more like…”

“Knowing how you are and trying to stop you from doing stupid stuff,” Sucy finished the phrase.

“Something like that. You could think of it as ‘teaming up _for_ you’ rather than ‘against’, if you would,” Diana explained.

Akko puffed her cheeks, clearly unhappy. “No fair. When you say it like that it almost sounds romantic,” she complained.

Diana smiled. “That’s because we worry about you,” she reached with her hand, cupping Akko’s chin and turning her head so that she faced her. “So maybe it is somewhat romantic.”

Sucy looked away as she saw Diana leaning. The same weight that had been on her chest since Friday—no, forget that. It had been there the Friday those two walked into the cafeteria hand in hand—reappeared. What a crude reminder that those two were already in a relationship, while this was only a first date for Sucy. But maybe the fact that she had to look away meant something. Maybe...

“Hey, Sucy,” Akko said. Sucy reluctantly looked her way.

Akko’s face had come so close that she almost jumped over the railing.

“W-what?” Sucy said, trying to sound as she always did—and failing miserably.

Akko leaned even closer, her nose brushing Sucy’s. “Do you still want that kiss?”

Sucy looked the other way. “N-nah, it’s whatever. We’ll figure it out, if we do start dating,” she refused. She instantly regretted it, but it was too late at this point. From the corner of her eye she spotted Diana whispering something to Akko. Akko’s face lit up at whatever Diana had said. Was she mocking her? Unlikely, Diana wasn’t that type of person, but she _had_ said she didn’t like Sucy…

“Sucy,” Akko called again.

Sucy eyed her, again feeling as that weight in her chest began summoning negative thoughts. “Yeah?”

“Do you like me?”

The answer came easily to Sucy’s head, but not to her mouth. It was obvious. Why did she need to say it? She knew Akko wouldn’t make fun of her, but her first instinct was to scoff and deny it. She…

She hadn’t actually said it before, had she? She’d talked to Akko about the date idea and all of that, but Akko had been the one to confess first. Sure, Sucy’s idea had been an implicit way to say that she did like Akko, but maybe Akko didn’t want to do implicit.

Looking into her eyes, Sucy steeled herself. She could trust Akko. She… She could be honest with her. “Yes,” her voice came way weaker than she’d wanted it to.

“Then prove it,” Akko said. “Kiss me.”

The way she smiled made Sucy’s brain stop working. How many times had she seen Akko smile like that? How many times a day did she stare at Akko’s face, in general? Since knowing her, she’d let Akko drag her around, complying with most of her stupid plans and putting silly excuses as to why in her own mind.

But now, she could stare the truth in the face. For all her complains, she just really enjoyed Akko’s shenanigans. She was fun, she was beautiful, she was… everything. Everything Sucy wasn’t.

She would do it.

Her heartbeat sounded like thunder inside her. She leaned forward a little, unsure of how to proceed. Did she just up and do it? She wanted the kiss, and there was no way she’d let it slip away again.

Akko raised a hand, putting Sucy’s hair behind her ear. “There’s no need to be so nervous,” she said. “I don’t bite.”

 _Screw it,_ Sucy thought, closing her eyes and leaning in.

Akko guided her face so that their lips actually met.

Sucy’s lips were stiff, almost pressed, but Akko’s were soft and warm and… Sucy wanted to feel them better. Her entire face relaxed as the rest of her body tensed, and her heartbeat doubled, going so fast that Sucy feared she’d get a heart attack.

But when her lips finally allowed themselves to embrace Akko’s, her entire body seemed to go limp.

Warmth spread from her chest, like fire travelling through her bloodstream, it quickly reached the entirety of her body. She instinctively put her hands around Akko’s waist, wanting to feel her closer, and her entire body moved on its own as it took a step towards her. When had she begun moving her mouth? Akko was guiding her, her arms wrapping themselves around Sucy’s neck and pressing them even more.

This was it. No more doubts, no more idiocy. Forget everything. Even if she logically understood she wouldn’t feel like this for long, this decision would stick. She wanted to stay with Akko. And if that meant being with Diana, then so be it. Diana was a good person, even if she and Sucy didn’t always agree.

Even if she would have liked to stay like that forever, Sucy was the one to break off the kiss. She needed a moment to process and breathe properly. She eyed Diana, who was watching with an unreadable expression. She didn’t seem happy, but neither was she annoyed or saddened.

Akko, though, gave her a full-teethed smile, so wide it should have teared her lips. “Did you like it?”

Sucy’s face couldn’t have gotten hotter, even if it wanted to. Sucy had the feeling this was Akko’s revenge for all the times she had teased her. Was this karma?

“Y-yes,” Sucy said reluctantly. “Sorry. I must have sucked,” she looked down.

Akko snorted. “Please, me and Diana only have like, a week’s experience, don’t be so harsh on yourself.”

 _A week’s advantage,_ Sucy thought. All the warm feelings from a second ago were already fading. She looked at Akko again, wanting to kiss her again, to keep those stupid thoughts at bay.

Diana stepped forward, standing next to Akko, and cleared her throat. “Uhm, Sucy,” she said, looking at her with a bit of a forced smile. “I got you a gift.”

Sucy blinked. “You?”

Akko’s smile turned cheeky. “I know all of this must be pretty… weird, to you,” she pointed at Diana, “but even if she won’t admit it, I think she likes you way more than she lets on.”

 _I think Akko mistakes ‘like’ for ‘respect’,_ Sucy thought. But when she met Diana’s eyes, she got it. It was ok if she had that little misunderstanding. It’d make her happier, and most importantly, it didn’t really change anything. “I thought it’d be a decent sign of good will,” she reached into the sweater she was wearing, bringing out a small… paper?

Sucy grabbed it. It was a sign that read ‘Potentially lethal gases in the air. Do not disturb’ in big red letters and triangular chemical flask painted yellow and with an exclamation mark down its center.

Despite herself, Sucy chuckled. “Aren’t these against the rules?” She looked at Diana with surprise.

“Sign and stickers are. This is just a paper that I’ve enchanted,” she explained. “You place it on your door and it’ll stick. Then, depending on how you knock on it, it can turn invisible or not. That way, when you don’t want to be bothered, you can put it up and Akko and Lotte will know to stay away.”

Sucy looked down at it again. It was quality paper, too. She ran a finger through it. Looking up at Diana, she gave her a genuine smile. “Thank you,” she said. “I could make you a potion that’ll let you read anything you want twice as fast in return, should you want it.”

Akko cocked her head. “Wasn’t that the one that left be with a blurry vision for like an hour?”

“I’ve fixed it since then,” Sucy waved a dismissive hand.

Diana pressed her lips. “I’d normally pass, but spending so much time with Akko _has_ taken much away from my study time. It might actually come in handy.”

“Why are you saying that as if it was my fault?” Akko turned with a frown.

Sucy snickered.

Diana put a hand on Akko’s head and kissed her forehead. “Don’t take it badly. I wouldn’t exchange that time for anything.”

“You better not,” Akko nodded assertively.

Carefully, Sucy placed the magical sign into her jacket’s pocket, surprised that she was still smiling. With some hesitance, but pushing herself, she reached and grabbed Akko’s hand. Akko turned, raising an eyebrow. “I… I think I’ll accept your invitation,” Sucy said. Again, she met eyes with Diana. One last time. Making sure she was ready for the decision. Diana nodded almost imperceptibly. “If it’s ok with you, I... want to…” her voice became so low that Akko turned an ear to her.

“Could you repeat that?”

“I want to…” Sucy took a deep breath. Why was this so hard? “I want to call you my girlfriend.”

Akko instantly lunged forward, hugging Sucy and squeezing her to the point where she couldn’t breathe. “Of course you can call me that!”

H e l p, Sucy mouthed in Diana’s direction. Diana chuckled.

“We’ll go on dates every weekend, we’ll study together, we’ll hold hands and kiss and all that stuff and—”

“Uhm, Akko?” Diana interrupted.

“Yes?”

“Sucy’s turning blue.”

“Oh.”

Akko let go, and Sucy was finally able to breathe again. “Ok, rule number one: Don’t kill me,” Sucy said, looking up.

“Sorry,” Akko smiled apologetically. “But you promise the same.”

Sucy was about to say she couldn’t promise that, as a joke of course, but she thought better of it. _Be honest. At least for today._

“I promise.”

Sucy stared into Akko’s eyes. Now she really wanted to—

“And, before we continue this wonderful scene and all of that,” Diana interrupted. “So that we don’t have to rush like the other day, I suggest we go.”

It would’ve been a lie to say Sucy wasn’t a little annoyed by the interruption, but Diana had a point. Akko couldn’t fly very fast, and running wasn’t an option.

“Do we have to?” Akko asked, clearly disappointed.

“Let’s go,” Sucy said, reaching to the side. Her broom, which was sitting nearby, flew to her hand. Diana did the same.

“See? You’re definitely teaming up against me,” Akko complained. She still grabbed her broom and followed as Diana and Sucy began to fly.

They shared a bit of an accomplice smile as they did.

Maybe this would work far better than Sucy thought it would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you mean, it's not over yet?  
> Just how long is this? VERY long!  
> Thanks HollowClock!  
> Leave your comments!


	7. Chapter 7

Sucy deadpanned Akko, who was still asleep by the time she came back from breakfast.

Diana entered the room behind her, and they exchanged a look, sharing the same mix of expected disappointment and overwhelming desire to cuddle with her. “Should we push her off?” Sucy asked.

“I would normally say yes. But it _has_ been a tiring week, with all the exams. Maybe we should let her sleep. We can tell the others…”

“We already bought the tickets,” Sucy said, pointing at her pocket. They’d decided to go see another movie today, now in a real date. Or, well, triple date this time, alongside Lotte and Barbara and the newborn couple of Hannah and Amanda, who were ‘testing the grounds’—which meant they definitely liked each other, a lot, but refused to admit it to everyone else.

Hopefully this time the movie wouldn’t be trash. Assuming they made it.

“You have a point there. As much as it pains me, I guess we should wake her up,” Diana sighed, moving over to shake Akko.

“I have a beverage that will wake her in a heartbeat,” Sucy offered. Duana gave her a flat look. “It’s called coffee, relax.”

Rolling her eyes, Diana shook Akko. “Akko, dear, we’re gonna be late.”

Sucy managed to not cringe at the use of ‘dear’. It sounded absurdly formal. Like something married couples should call each other. But Diana had been using it for like a month now. Sucy hadn’t yet taken to using any special nicknames with Akko. Sadly, she didn’t think ‘guinea pig’ would work.

Akko grunted and mumbled as she opened her eyes. “Uh? Oh, hello, pretties,” was the first thing she said as soon as she saw them. “What is- Wait, what time is it?!”

“Ten thirty,” Sucy said flatly.

“Shoot, you should’ve waked me sooner!” she jumped out of bed so fast that she hit her head with the top bunk “ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch,” she said as she ignored the pain and ran around the room, changing.

Diana moved to help Akko while Sucy proceeded to pick up the clothes she threw around. Sometimes, being in a relationship with Akko almost felt like taking care of a child.

But when Akko came out of the bathroom dressed in her casual attire, that being jeans and a shirt, those feelings quickly faded, being replaced by that warmth Sucy had come to appreciate a lot over the past couple of months.

“Ok, let’s go!” Akko cried, running out the room and down the corridor.

Sucy and Diana walked behind her.

“I should scold you for lying to her like that,” Diana said. “But I will admit, it got the job done.”

Smiling, Sucy shrugged. “Adding half an hour always makes Akko easier to handle, when we gotta arrive punctually somewhere. You can’t do it too often, though, because then she’d grow used to it.”

“I’ll note that down,” Diana said.

Their trip downstairs and outside the school was mostly unobstructed. They had their permits, their tickets and everyone was on time.

Sucy, Akko and Diana, as usual, had been the last ones to arrive. Dating Akko did come with some cons. She and Diana could manage Akko fairly well, particularly when they were together, but her hyperactivity was often too much for anyone.

Even then, Sucy wouldn’t have it any other way.

Or maybe she would.

Standing in front of the headmistress’s office, Sucy and Diana were trying to process what they’d just been told.

“Let me get this straight,” Diana said, looking at the ashamed Akko. “You brought back a puppy without telling us, got caught, and now are grounded for two weeks?”

Akko chuckled nervously and nodded. “Sorry…”

Their movie date had gone wonderfully. Or so Sucy thought. The movie had been fun, she’d been able to hold hands with Akko, Akko had smiled the whole way, and… “That was why you acted like your stomach hurt near the end, isn’t it. It had nothing to do with ice-cream, you were just hiding the puppy,” Sucy pointed out.

“Yeah…” Akko looked down.

Sucy couldn’t be mad. This _was_ Akko after all. She was almost mad at herself for not seeing this coming. “And your punishment implies…?” Diana asked, raising an eyebrow.

Again, Akko chuckled. “I… uhm… have to prepare all ingredients for dinner during weekdays, and for the three meals during weekends, until the Sunday in two weeks,” she looked down.

Diana brought a hand to her temple, massaging it lightly. Sucy simply sighed. “Well, guess we’ll have more time to hang out if we help you,” she said.

Akko looked up, hope in her eyes. “For real?!” She asked.

Diana raised an eyebrow. “We shouldn’t spoil her,” she said. “She earned the punishment. She could have at least told us she’d brought a puppy with her. I could have helped her hide it!”

Sucy smirked. “That’s why you’re actually mad, aren’t you? It’s not the grounding, it’s that she didn’t tell us.”

Diana pressed her lips. “Maybe,” she admitted. “But she _did_ earn her punishment and we should let her…” she trailed off, remembering something. “Oh, who am I kidding, we all know she won’t learn.”

“And six hands work faster than two. Also, I don’t want Akko poisoning our food on accident,” Sucy added.

“Hey, I’m a great potato peeler! Better than you, I bet!”

“I’m not sure that’s something to brag about, Akko,” Diana gave her one of those uncertain looks she often had when she didn’t know how to take a comment.

Akko crossed her arms. “Hmm. Whatever, let’s just go…”

She walked off.

“Are you… sure you wanna do this?” Diana asked, looking doubtful.

“That’s why I suggested it, didn’t I?”

“That was surprisingly nice of you,” Diana said, eyeing Sucy.

“I like to spend time with my girlfriend, whether you believe me or not,” Sucy shrugged. Diana often didn’t catch Sucy’s humor, which was fine, but it also made her somewhat less trusting of her than Akko was. Even if it had only been two months, it looked like this reality that would never change.

Diana sighed. “Guess I can’t argue with that sentiment.”

Sucy smirked. Getting Diana to agree with her was strangely satisfying.

More satisfying than peeling potatoes, that’s for sure.

“Potatoes and Carrots need to be peeled and washed. Onions need to be peeled. Lettuce and tomatoes need to be washed. This is your food so try to do it well,” the chef fairy told the three of them as they prepared, putting on some aprons and taking peelers.

“Got it,” Akko nodded. It was obvious she was used to this.

“Is this all we have to do today?” Sucy pointed at the different mountains of ingredients.

“Yes. No magic, of course. If you use it, we’ll know,” the fairy said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Akko rolled her eyes. She put a little stool and a big wooden bucket next to the mountain of potatoes and grabbed one. “Come on, let’s start.”

Sucy grabbed another stool and sat down too.

Diana gulped, sitting on a third stool. She had a potato peeler in one hand and she grabbed a potato with the other. Then, she looked at Sucy and Akko, who had already begun. Carefully, she placed the potato peeler against her potato and pushed.

She got a bit of the peel off, but got stuck.

“Hmm,” she hummed in concentration.

She repeated the motion a couple times. Something wasn’t working. She kept turning the potato, finding new angles to do it, until she finally managed to do one clean cut.

When she looked up, she noticed Sucy and Akko were watching her. “What?” Diana asked, knowing exactly what they must’ve been thinking.

“Diana…” Akko looked extremely confused.

Sucy seemed like she was holding back laughter. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to peel potatoes?” she asked, covering her mouth with a hand.

Diana felt her face growing hot. “I- I do know. I’ve peeled potatoes before,” she declared. Sucy raised an eyebrow. Diana instantly noticed the difference between her potato, which had a bunch of different strings of peel hanging, and Akko’s and Sucy’s, which were cleanly peeled.

“Whoever taught you oughta do it again,” Akko chuckled.

Diana looked at her potato. “I was like ten years old, ok? And I only peeled one.” Her face was burning.

Akko smiled. “That’s so cute! And have you seriously never done another one?”

“Well, the maids did it for us at home, and I’ve never gotten in trouble at Luna Nova,” she explained.

“Ah, yes, classic rich girl,” Sucy leaned and grabbed Diana’s potato. Diana fought her for a second before giving up and letting Sucy finish her job. “All the knowledge in the world, can’t peel a potato.”

“Maybe I should let you two handle this,” Diana said, looking down. “I’m not going to help a lot.”

Akko instantly looked sad and Diana regretted her words. “Don’t be silly! Peeling is easy, you just gotta… Uhm… You grab this,” Akko showed her the peeler, “and then do this,” she started peeling again.

Diana didn’t understand.

Sucy sighed. She grabbed another potato and offered it to Diana. “Take it,” she said. Diana hesitantly did. “For starters, look for a long cut, like this,” she grabbed another one and showed Diana how to do it. Diana did so. “Then,” in one quick motion, Sucy removed a piece of the peel, “do it quickly, make sure the edge is aligned.”

Diana looked at her potato and did as Sucy had instructed with all her strength. A chunk of the potato came off. “Hey, this isn’t so bad,” she smiled.

Sucy laughed. Akko was holding back from doing so. “Now, I don’t want to discourage you or anything but… You’re peeling it, not murdering it,” Sucy stood. She hesitated for a second, as if only realizing what she was doing a second too late, and sat back down. “It’s not about strength, it’s about speed. Unless your peeler is blunt, but I think they’re good.”

Diana tried it again. This time went better, but her hand nearly slipped and she almost cut herself.

“Are you ok?” Akko jumped from her seat.

Diana looked at her potato angrily. “Yes dear, I’m fine. I just…”

Sucy raised a hand. She reached behind her to the mountain of carrots. “Here,” she offered Diana one. “This might be easier than potatoes.”

Diana looked at it with disdain. “I will not give up on peeling potatoes simply because I—”

“Diana,” Sucy interrupted, looking into her eyes. “It’s ok if you’re not good at something. Start with the easy stuff, then we’ll go from there. You have two weeks to get good at this, no need to rush. Also, if you end up missing a finger, I don’t want Akko making a big deal out of it.”

Diana often had trouble dealing with Sucy. The girl seemed to shift between getting serious or humorous without a warning, and if was hard to tell when she was being honest or just mocking. But at least right now, she did have a point.

Diana took the carrot. “Same concept,” Sucy said. “From top to bottom, swift movements, not strong ones.”

Nodding, Diana took a deep breath. _It’s only a carrot,_ she thought.

She managed to do it. Once. Twice. Thrice. And enough times to peel the carrot in an acceptable manner.

“Yay!” Akko celebrated. “Well done, Diana!”

Diana blushed again. She felt slightly patronized, but she _was_ —stupidly—proud of this little feat.

“You do carrots, we’ll do potatoes. In the end, the amount of work will be roughly the same anyways,” Sucy said, restarting her own job. Akko quickly followed, still smiling about what Diana had done.

Diana began to peel carrots and throwing them into a separate container. She wasn’t doing it fast, but the fact that she was doing it was encouraging enough.

“Thanks for helping me out,” Akko said as she peeled. “Sorry for causing this.”

Diana’s chest swelled with affection. “It’s not a problem, though next time, please tell us,” she said.

“What happened to the puppy anyways? Where did you even put it?” Sucy asked.

“It was outside, near the forest. I think it tried to eat someone’s rat familiar,” Akko explained. Sucy chuckled. “I asked if I could make it my familiar and take care of it, but they didn’t let me,” Akko looked sad.

“Familiars are a serious business,” Diana explained. “You’ll get one eventually, don’t worry.”

“Will you get a snake like your family?” Akko asked.

Diana frowned. Her relationship with her family had gotten better, but she still hated those snakes. “I’d rather not.”

“Then… will you have a unicorn?” Akko asked, eyes glowing.

“Akko, don’t be stupid, you can’t have a summoned magic creature as your familiar,” Sucy shook her head.

“Well I didn’t know that,” Akko stuck her tongue out to her.

“I want to have a bear,” Diana explained.

Akko and Sucy paused. They both turned to Diana with clear confusion. “A bear,” Sucy repeated, slowly, as if tasting the word.

“I’m… Rather fond of them,” Diana explained. “Polar, Grizzly, Black, I don’t really care which kind. They’re strong, smart, and cute. I don’t know,” she shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

“I think it’d be cool,” Akko smiled and nodded.

“Hey, to each their own. If that’s what you want, I’m sure you’ll get it,” Sucy said. Diana smiled. She hadn’t told anyone about what she wanted for a familiar, but she’d always expected people to tell her it was crazy or that it didn’t fit. Historically, a witch’s familiar would be a crow, a rat or a cat. But that was mostly because those were the more readily available and less dangerous animals with which to establish a bond.

“What about you?” Diana asked, looking at Sucy.

“A weasel,” she replied instantly. “They’re crafty, slick, and dexterous. They should come in handy,” Sucy explained.

“Oooh, that’s cool too,” Akko nodded energetically. “Do you think it’d be possible to have a dragon?”

Sucy snorted. Diana smiled at the outrageous suggestion. “I mean, they’re smart creatures, so you can certainly have one as a friend, but I don’t think they’d be content with being someone’s ‘familiar’,” she explained.

“Well, I’m not sure what I’d like, then,” Akko hummed. “Maybe a crow, like Chariot. Hmmm…” she went silent, thinking.

“Maybe a puppy would be a good idea after all. They certainly have your level of energy,” Sucy chuckled.

“But puppies grow up,” Akko took the idea seriously.

“I think you should maybe have something small and mobile that’s able to keep up with you,” Diana considered her options. “Maybe a hummingbird.”

“Oh, those are cute! But can you make them familiars?” Akko cocked her head.

“Nearly all animals can become a familiar. The bond they gain with their witch through magic usually grants them higher intelligence, though there’s a limit. Bugs and such usually won’t work, though I’ve heard of witches that use spiders or sometimes even scorpions,” Diana explained. “Those are arachnids, though, so they—”

“What about a snail?” Akko asked. “They’re not bugs or arachnids.”

Sucy sighed. “Why would you want a snail familiar?”

“Well, I dunno, I’m just curious,” Akko shrugged.

Diana chuckled. “I’m not sure anyone has tried it. Maybe you should be the one. Though bear in mind, once you have your bond, it’s not one you’re gonna break easily.”

Akko seemed to take the suggestion way more seriously than she should have.

After the talk, Diana realized she’d been working without pausing to think too much, and that felt weird. So this was menial work, huh…

“What are you smiling for?” Sucy asked, looking at her.

“I was just thinking this is more fun than I expected. People complain about these tasks so often, but it’s not that hard,” Diana explained, showing the pile of carrots she’d peeled.

“Give it a couple hours, or a couple days at most. Once the novelty is over, you’ll hate this just as much as everyone else,” Sucy said.

“And doing this with people you like always makes it easier,” Akko gifted them a wide smile.

Diana wasn’t sure they were right, but since she wasn’t knowledgeable in the topic, she let it go. Surely it couldn’t be as bad as they said.

It was.

While the three of them could work fast, by the time Thursday rolled around, Diana had grown to understand the hatred for these activities.

Talking with Akko—and admittedly, Sucy—was enjoyable. Problem was, they couldn’t talk all the time as topics often ran out or they paused to think. These were the times that became unbearably boring. In fact, Diana would have stopped helping, if not because of the idea that Akko would have to do _more_ of this by herself if she left. If this was almost maddening for Diana, Akko would have been in true pain.

But at least they had each other.

For three days, that was.

That day, when they walked down to the kitchens, Professor Finnelan waited for them at the door.

“Miss Manbavaran and Miss Cavendish,” she said, arms crossed. “Can I ask you what is it that you’re doing?”

Diana paused. She should’ve seen this coming. “We’re helping Akko. That’s not against the rules,” Sucy replied with a flat expression.

Finnelan raised an eyebrow. Akko was sweating bullets. Diana didn’t know what to say. She’d never gotten in trouble before.

“Well, it is from now on,” Finnelan simply stated. “The purpose of a punishment is lost if it becomes enjoyable, wouldn’t you agree?”

Diana opened her mouth to object, but Akko instantly looked at her and shook her head. “It’s ok,” she said. “You shouldn’t have helped anyways,” she said with a clearly faked smile.

Diana paused. She looked at Finnelan, whose expression softened when her eyes rested on her. “Diana, your relationship with Atsuko has not been exactly subtle, but I think we both know I’m right,” she said in a much less harsh tone.

She was. That was the problem. From moment one Diana had known this was the case, but she’d let her emotions overrule logic. She didn’t regret that, but she should have known where to draw the line. This entire relationship stuff was new to her. More importantly, this level of emotional openness was something she’d never known.

Truth was, right now Diana had no idea how to react.

“Fine, we’ll let Akko suffer alone,” Sucy said. “Sorry Akko. We’ll see you at dinner.”

The purple-haired witch reached to the side, grabbing Diana by the shoulder and pulling her away. Diana hadn’t said anything, but as she left, she noticed the sad look Akko had in her eyes. She tried to get rid of Sucy’s grip, but Sucy didn’t let go until they were out of the cafeteria.

She stopped once in the hallways, and Diana was tempted to go back to the kitchens.

“Don’t,” Sucy said, reading her. “You’ll only make it worse.”

“But…” Diana pressed her lips.

“She’s done this before, she’ll manage,” Sucy began walking away. Diana hesitated for a moment before following her.

“Don’t you want to help her too?” She asked.

“I already did,” Sucy turned with an indifferent expression. “I suspected this was going to happen, we helped Akko three days, so it’s not that bad.”

“We won’t be able to hang out during the next two weekends, either.”

“You’re acting like a spoiled child,” Sucy pointed out.

She probably wasn’t wrong, but Diana didn’t care. “I want to hang out with my girlfriend, what’s wrong with that?”

Sucy sighed, turning. “Nothing,” she pointed back towards the kitchens. “Go. See as her punishment is extended two days for each day you help her,” she said in an annoyed tone. “You’re meant to be the smart one, remember?”

“I… guess,” Diana looked down. “I just… Dear…”

The word made Sucy visibly cringe. “Why do you say that?” she asked.

Diana raised an eyebrow. “Dear?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a term of endearment, is it not?” she asked. “I thought it was suitable,” or at least, that’s what she recalled reading.

Sucy gave her an unbelieving look. “You sound like a forty year old woman talking to her fifty year old husband. If you like it then be my guest, but…” she shivered again.

Diana crossed her arms. “If that’s so, why haven’t you told me until now?”

“Because it’s very… you,” Sucy shrugged.

“Ah, I see,” Diana nodded. “It’d be as if you called Akko… Guinea pig!” She joked. However, the joke seemed to not be taken lightly, because Sucy’s eye narrowed and she looked away. “Sorry,” Diana said, frowning. “Did I offend you?”

“No,” Sucy waved her hand dismissively. “I just… Nevermind,” she turned again, expression back to normal. “Now, since Akko is out, I’ll go take my chance to go advance some of my experiments meaningfully.”

“Sure, good…” Diana trailed off, because Sucy didn’t even pause to listen to her.

Despite what she’d said, Diana was sure she’d offended her accidentally. Great, now she couldn’t hang out with her girlfriend and she felt bad for something she’d said to her girlfriend’s other girlfriend. This day just kept on getting better, now didn’t it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But wait, there's more! Just how long is this?!  
> Thanks HollowClock!  
> Leave a comment, those few brave enough to venture into this!


	8. Chapter 8

Sucy was bored.

While she’d learnt to accept she enjoyed Akko’s company, she still often underestimated just how much the brunette could brighten up a day. So it was that, when her experiments for the day were done, she approached the kitchens. She wasn’t going to help Akko, but she wanted to see her.

It was no surprise that Diana was also there, arguing with a minotaur-like fairy.

“Come on, I just want to say hello,” Diana said. “You know me, I will not—”

“No,” the bull headed creature said.

“It’s frustrating arguing with someone who only says a single word, you know?"

“No.”

“Please.”

“No.”

Diana huffed, turning with an extremely frustrated look. She noticed Sucy and her face went red. “Throwing a tantrum ‘cause you can’t see your girlfriend?” Sucy asked, smirking.

“Something like that,” Diana admitted.

Sucy shook her head, approaching the minotaur. She fished something in her pocket. The red sphere she’d created accidentally all those months ago. “You can eat this if you let us see her for a couple minutes,” she offered.

“No—Wait, that…” he lowered his head, sniffing. “It smells delicious.”

It better did. This was not that far away from crystallized magic. “Just a couple minutes,” Sucy said, waving the sphere in front of the minotaur’s nostrils.

“Hmmm… Two minutes. No more,” he took the ball and stepped aside. Sucy smiled. She knew it’d come in handy some time. She gestured to Diana, who was watching her with amazement.

They entered the kitchen. Akko was there, looking miserable, peeling potatoes.

“Look at the bright side,” Sucy said, making Akko pause and turn to look at them. “In a way, you’re making everyone at school happy, by allowing them to eat what you peeled.”

“Sucy!” Akko jumped, dropping the potato and throwing herself at Sucy, locking her arms around her neck. She acted as if she hadn’t seen her in two weeks, when it had only been a few hours. “They let you help me?”

“Nope,” Sucy replied, leaning and pecking Akko’s lips. “I bribed the guard to let us see you.”

“I can’t believe I have to do this all weekend. What a waste of a Saturday,” Akko complained.

“You did earn it,” Diana said. Akko turned, only now just realizing she was there.

“So you like to remind me,” Akko sighed. She let go of Sucy, turning and allowing Diana to kiss her too. “Are you staying long?”

“About a minute and a half,” Sucy said.

“That’s so short!” Akko complained.

“Here,” Diana offered something to Akko. Sucy blinked in surprise. A… chocolate? “I thought it’d help time pass faster.”

“Thanks!” Akko put it in her pocket, again throwing herself at Diana and kissing her. Sucy rolled her eyes. She should get some more gifts for Akko too. She separated from Diana, turning to Sucy. “And I haven’t forgotten about you,” she smiled.

Sucy sighed, but she let Akko kiss her again. She often did that, kiss one of them and then turn to kiss the other. As if often happened, a warm current travelled through her body, making her lightheaded and happy. When they separated, Akko turned to the stacks of vegetables behind her. “I’m gonna die here.”

“And you’ll do it alone. Time’s up,” the minotaur’s head poked through the door. Sucy smiled when she saw him.

“Oh, come on, just five—” Akko began, but she paused, confused. “Wait, who are—”

“No,” the minotaur said. His face had become sharper, and his muscles had diminished considerably.

“Let’s go before he kicks us out,” Sucy said, smirking at the minotaur. _Note to self: The beautification potion works. And this minotaur likes slender builds._

“Sorry Akko,” Diana said. “We’ll see you tonight,” she waved.

“Bye…” Akko looked disappointed, but there was nothing Sucy or Diana could do about it.

Once outside, Sucy wondered what she should do next. With all of their friends already doing their own thing, hanging out with them wasn’t exactly an option. Maybe she should just go back to her room, try to re-do the beautification potion. She could try to bribe the minotaur again…

“Thanks for that,” Diana stepped next to her. “I really needed it.”

“I wanted to see Akko too,” Sucy shrugged.

“Yeah,” Diana nodded, sighing. “And now, I’ve nothing to do.”

“Don’t you always have something to study?” Sucy turned to her. The cafeteria was mostly empty at these hours, so their voices echoed around them.

“Before, yes. But since dating Akko I’ve been pacing myself better, and… Well, I don’t need to learn anything more for now,” she explained.

Sucy looked at Diana. Her two best friends were out on dates, and she wasn’t one to hang out with Constanze or Jasminka under normal circumstances. It was honestly kind of sad to see her like that. Like an abandoned kitten in a box. “Do you want to learn some advanced potion-making?”

Diana looked up. “Are you offering to teach me?”

“I mean, if we’re gonna be together from now on, I might as well get you to understand how my work gets done,” Sucy said.

There was a moment in which Diana’s stare became suspicious, piercing. She quickly let go of that, nodding. “Sounds interesting. Should we go to your room?”

“That’s where my stuff is, so yeah,” Sucy began walking.

Diana hesitated for only a moment before following.

Learning from Sucy was definitely a new kind of experience.

She was bad at teaching, but in a strangely endearing way. It was clear she just wasn’t used to it. She knew how to do the things, and maybe even explained them in detail. It was sort of inspiring.

But damn, she just didn’t know how to get her point across.

“And then you add some pomegranate seeds,” she said, dropping a few of those in her flask.

Diana nodded slowly, waiting for more instruction. It didn’t come. “Uhm. How many?”

“Three,” Sucy was paying almost more attention to her flask than to Diana’s.

“Does size matter?”

“It shouldn’t,” Sucy said.

Diana shook her head. She could try to be a little more specific. Doing as told, she added the pomegranate seeds and watched as her potion turned a really nice pink. “And this a love potion you yourself came up with?”

“Not love,” Sucy said. “It just, quite literally, binds two people together. This much should work for… Maybe a day, two tops,” she explained. “Remember last year when I kept accompanying Akko to the bathroom all day?”

“Ah, I remember now,” Diana nodded. It had been a strange day. “… were you really not in the knows that you liked her back then?” she asked with a skeptical look.

Sucy rolled her eyes. “I thought it’d force her to do my bidding,” she explained. “Don’t give me that look, I was just experimenting. Anyways, all it does is force two people to not be further than about ten meters from each other.”

“So if we drank this…”

“I’d have to drink one half of a bottle, then you the other half. There has to be an exchange of spit, as far as I can tell.” She paused, getting a thoughtful look.. “I guess, alternatively, we could each drink our potions separately and kiss,” she said. Her face was straight, but a second later she chuckled.

“What if we drank our potions separately, then Akko kissed one of us and then the other?” Diana asked.

“That’s…” Sucy considered this for a long moment. “I’m not sure, really. Most likely we’d end up bounded to each other, though if Akko didn’t drink the potion I’m not sure how she’d factor into it. Or maybe it simply wouldn’t work.”

Diana didn’t know how the potion worked, so she wasn’t sure, but she thought it’d be a fun experiment. Even then, the idea of being bound to Sucy for a day or two… Actually, it wasn’t as unappealing as she’d expected, but it’d be an annoyance for the both of them, as they slept in separate rooms and such.

“I want to kiss Akko,” Diana reached the obvious conclusion.

“Can’t disagree with that,” Sucy leaned back on her chair.

A surprisingly comfortable silence settled upon the room. While indirectly, Diana and Sucy had spent a lot of time together over the past months, and while Diana wouldn’t dare claim she _knew_ Sucy, she had come to… Sort of understand, maybe even appreciate, her.

Which brought another thought to mind. “Have you considered what our life is gonna be like, moving forward?” Diana asked. Sucy raised an eyebrow. “I mean, assuming we keep dating Akko… What’s gonna happen, once we become adults? Do we move in together?”

“I don’t see the issue,” Sucy shrugged.

“And what about, uhm…” Diana looked down, feeling hot. “You know.”

“… Oh,” Sucy said, luckily understanding. “I… hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Like, do we do it in turns or does it—”

“I think,” Sucy raised a hand, interrupting Diana, “this specifically will be better discussed with Akko.”

“No, yeah, you’re right,” Diana shook her head, getting the idea out of her mind. “What I mean is, we’re gonna be spending a lot of time together whether we like it or not.”

Sucy hummed for a moment. “And… is that a bad thing?”

“No,” Diana instantly replied. “I just…” What was she even trying to say? “I don’t dislike your company. It’s just, I don’t know.”

“Diana Cavendish not knowing something, what a day to be alive,” Sucy smirked. Diana deadpanned her. “I do get what you’re saying, I guess. But we can just think of it as being roommates. You now share rooms with Barbara and Hannah, doesn’t mean you have to be romantically involved.”

“I guess,” Diana looked at her pink potion, then at Sucy. An idea sprung to mind. Maybe a silly one, but… “What if we try anyways?”

This clearly took Sucy by surprise, because the confused look she directed at Diana was not one she’d often seen on the purple haired girl. “Try what, exactly?” She looked at the potion. “You’re not…”

“No, no the potion,” Diana clarified, putting it aside. “I mean, for the next week Akko is gonna be prisoner in the kitchens. I’m not saying we should kiss or anything, but we could try ‘going out’. You know, hang out, see how it goes.”

Sucy didn’t seem convinced. “I’m not sure how great of an idea that is,” Sucy admitted. “What if we come to dislike each other like we did before we started dating Akko? Like it or not, she has been an arbiter between us a number of times.”

Diana considered this silently. Sucy was just being cautious, as she often was in any regards involving opening up to others. Hell, she was even tougher than Diana in that regard. But that was part of why, in that moment, Diana considered this could work. “It’s fine if you don’t want to, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Maybe it’s not romantic, but I enjoy your company. I think we’re not that different,” she smiled at Sucy.

Sucy considered her for a minute. Diana knew that if she refused it wouldn’t be because of a dislike of Diana, but simply because of uncertainty. Still, she wished Sucy would accept. Maybe romantic involvement was too much to hope for, but if this could strengthen their relationship it’d still be worth it.

“I… guess it’s worth a shot,” Sucy finally replied. “We can flip the coin. In the end we’re probably gonna be forced to spend time together anyways, so it doesn’t matter that much.”

Diana felt relief wash over her. She’d been surprisingly tense about her suggestion. “Thanks,” she said. “So, what should we do?”

“I’d say this counts,” Sucy pointed around. “We’re alone in my room, crafting potions, talking about feelings and stuff.”

Diana pressed her lips. “You’re not wrong, but… I expected we’d do something more ‘official’, if that makes sense.”

“I’m _not_ going to the movies again, if that’s what you’re expecting,” Sucy said. “Next time I _will_ poison every kid on the theater. I promise it.”

“I can understand the feeling,” Diana recalled the woman with the three year old last Saturday. She normally didn’t mind kids too much, but damn that boy had been noisy. “But… How about we do something we wouldn’t normally do? With Akko, I mean. We could go to a library or something like that.”

“Not a bad idea. Something we normally wouldn’t do with Akko…” Sucy hummed. “Oh, I may have an idea,” she said with a smile.

“Do tell it to me,” Diana encouraged.

Sucy’s smirk became a little scary. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll see.”

 _Maybe it’s not too late to back down,_ Diana thought, fearing what Sucy had come up with.

“So, should we consider this a first date or…?” Diana asked as they walked through Blytonbury.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Sucy said. “But we’ll see how it goes, and if it’s too bad, we can pretend like this never happened.”

“I’ll accept those terms,” Diana nodded.

Sucy had been rather surprised when Diana made the offer to ‘go out’. But after a moment of consideration, there was a simple truth to it all: She had begun to like Diana. Maybe not romantically, but she _did_ consider Diana a friend. She cracked jokes around her, allowed herself to talk about feelings—in a limited manner—and yesterday she’d even taught her about her hobby. Maybe more importantly, she hadn’t been particularly opposed to the idea. She did feel a little guilty for leaving Akko behind at school to peel potatoes and carrots on her own, but on the other hand, Akko would probably be happy if by the end of all of this Diana and Sucy were closer, no matter in which way.

Sucy paused. “Ah, here it is,” she said, pointing at the building next to them. It was flat but wide, with a red roof and white walls, and a constant stream of people entered and exited for no obvious reason. From the outside, it looked like a normal, if maybe big, house.

“What is this?”

“You’ll see,” Sucy smiled. She approached the building, which was filled to the brim. “Sunday afternoons are a lot busier than I anticipated…” she mumbled.

“Maybe we should, uhm, hold hands,” Diana suggested from behind. “To not get separated.”

Sucy turned. Diana was giving her an uncertain smile. The intention behind the suggestion was obvious, but she was unsure of whether it was worth a try or not. “Sure, why not,” Sucy offered her hand. What did they have to lose? It was only handholding.

The second their hands touched, something became apparent. Diana had _smooth_ hands. Akko’s were rough, with calluses from her constant activity and getting into trouble. That had its own charm, certainly, but Sucy was left _confused_ by the touch. She didn’t know skin could feel like velvet.

“So, are we going or…?” Diana cocked her head.

“Oh, sure,” Sucy made sure she had a good grip on Diana. “You have a really nice hand, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Diana smiled. “Yours is nice too.”

Sucy felt a little more flattered by the comment than she was willing to admit.

The inside of the building was what separated it from a house.

What at first looked like a normal building was clearly a façade, for now they were looking at an inner patio filled with tables, chairs and a big central stage where a desk had been set up. Every table had a points board, and it was quickly apparent what this whole setup was about.

“Wait…” Diana looked around. People sat and stood on the roofed gallery around the patio, while only some people sat on tables. People who would participate in the event. “Is this…”

“A trivia night,” Sucy turned and smiled. “Curiously enough, this one will be focused on magic topics, as they seem to be becoming more and more popular each day.”

Diana’s eyes glinted with excitement.

Sucy had heard about this from Lotte, who had come here a couple weeks ago during a Nightfall special event. Of course, she and Barbara had obliterated the competition. Sucy had looked it up, and the prices for winning were usually a bit of cash and some other thing. Lotte had received a signed copy of a Nightfall volume. Today’s price was, apparently, a coupon for a free wand. This wasn’t something Sucy had a particular interest in—her Luna Nova wand worked just fine—and she hadn’t come for the reward anyways. She had to pay a bit of money for the inscription, but…

“I figured, the two of us have a big chance of winning this. Your general knowledge and my knowledge on potions…”

“I feel like it’s a little unfair,” Diana said, though she couldn’t hide how excited she truly was. “We are witches, after all.”

“No need to be socially conscious,” Sucy smiled. “Let’s just destroy the competition.”

Diana seemed surprised that Sucy had been able to see through her so quickly. However, she got past it and smiled. “Let’s go.”

Sucy did barely anything.

It was almost embarrassing. Each question, Diana was the first one to press the button at the table. She was so quick to answer that by the time half the questions had been asked, some of the other participants had just given up completely.

Diana didn’t seem to notice or care. She was _enjoying_ this test to her knowledge. Like a surprise exam on random little facts no-one else cared about, she seemed to find the experience thrilling. Even the man asking the questions had started to only look at Diana while doing so, almost like a one-on-one challenge.

But one thing was for sure. Sucy knew she’d picked the right place for this.

Doing this with Akko would have been hard. Dates with her were fun, of course, but sitting around for two hours while only answering questions? She would’ve gone mad, unless the theme had been Chariot.

This, though? It was almost as if Diana glowed. The same childish excitement Akko showed most of the time was present in this Diana, if maybe a little more focused. The smile that only Akko seemed to be able to bring out of her was now sitting on her lips as this challenge was _slaughtered_ by years of obsessive study.

Sucy was beginning to understand why Akko liked this girl so much. Besides her stunning looks, at least.

And the best part of it all, the audience seemed to love it. They all stood in relative silence as questions about witches, spells, events and other magical stuff were asked and answered at increasing speeds. Today’s night had been supposed to be a ‘Mild difficulty’ one, which was meant to encourage people with only general knowledge to partake too, but Sucy was _sure_ the host had changed sheets and was asking the hard ones. Trick questions, negative questions, questions with a presumed answer… Diana barely had to pause more than thirty seconds for any of them.

Sucy wasn’t doing anything. She was just enjoying the show.

“And our final question,” the host said, pausing for dramatic effect. Was he panting? Was that sweat on his brow? Diana was definitely sweating. She’d gotten so into it that she’d foregone her chair half an hour ago. “This one’s normally a tiebreaker, but… no-one here has any chance, I’d say, of making a comeback,” he chuckled along with the audience. “What is the name of the witch that brought forth this new age of magic?”

“Atsuko Kagari,” Diana didn’t hesitate to answer.

A big buzz sounded.

Everyone blinked, Sucy included, in shock. Diana cocked her head. “Oooh,” the host sounded genuinely disappointed. “Wrong. Does anyone else know the question?”

One of the other participants, almost timidly, touched his button. “Diana Cavendish,” he said.

“Correct!” The host said.

Diana’s eyes narrowed. “No it’s not,” she replied. “That’s—”

Sucy reached and grabbed Diana’s arm. She looked down, and Sucy could see the excitement from earlier had started to turn a bit of a darker turn. She did _not_ want to see what an angry Diana Cavendish could do. “You can submit any answers that you believe to be wrong to our committee for review,” the host said. He grabbed a couple of things from his desk and approached the table. “Normally, we’d make a spectacle of giving these out, but… I think the people here have already seen a spectacle.”

He offered them two envelopes. Diana paused, looking at it. “But I got the last question ‘wrong’,” she said, confused.

The host chuckled. “So? You still have, undeniably, the highest score today,” he pointed at their table. There had been about a dozen different teams and a hundred questions.

Diana held ninety-nine points. Sucy had won maybe four or five of those.

“Oh,” Diana took the prizes, hesitant. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

The audience around them chuckled again. “And this concludes this trivia night! Half an hour ahead of schedule, too! You, young woman, are one hell of a participant. May I have your name?” The man offered his microphone to Diana, though it was a bit redundant, as Diana had her own.

She looked at Sucy. Sucy considered it for a moment before nodding. This was bound to be fun.

“Diana,” Diana said. “Diana Cavendish.”

The man, and the audience, went completely silent.

Sucy started laughing.

“I can’t believe you actually submitted the wrong answer thing,” Sucy said as they walked down the street towards the leyline stop.

Diana would have walked faster, but Sucy had grabbed her hand when she’d seen how pissed Diana was and hadn’t let go. For all her tough girl persona, she sure understood how to help Diana calm down. “I can’t believe that stupid mistake even made it to the trivia thing. Akko was the one who brought back magic, not me, for fuck’s sake.”

Sucy paused. “Wow. Never expected to hear that out of you.”

“I’m angry,” Diana explained. “Excuse my language.”

“It’s fine,” Sucy shrugged. They began walking again. “I hope your day wasn’t sullied by that. You looked like you were having fun.”

Diana had to admit, she _had_ greatly enjoyed the day. She never thought answering questions could be so intense and exciting. For once, she felt as if all of those years of endless study had been worth it. “I was. Thank you,” she turned. Sucy’s face was hidden behind her hair from this angle, but Diana thought she saw the hint of a smile.

“I wasn’t on board at first,” Sucy admitted. “And I didn’t do anything in the end, with only a few questions about potions, but…” she turned. “I gotta admit, it was inspiring seeing you have fun like that. I thought you only looked that happy when you were with Akko.”

While that _was_ a little bit insulting, Sucy spoke a truth. Diana didn’t often feel that exhilarated, and it was usually Akko who could bring it out of her. But today had been different hadn’t it? “I guess I’m slowly learning to be more… open? No, that’s not it…”

“Yourself,” Sucy said. Had that squeeze of her hand been an affectionate one, or just a reflex? It was hard to tell, when her face was hidden again. “Akko seems to have a thing for girls who are used to repressing her emotions.”

“What about you?” Diana asked. “I won’t lie and say I have an idea of what you’d enjoy to do,” she admitted. For all she thought she knew Sucy, she was a hard girl to piece together. “Unless it’s potions, I guess. You really enjoy that.”

“That I do,” Sucy smiled. “And I don’t have many other hobbies besides that,” she sounded a little gloomier. “Guess I’m not that interesting.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Diana pulled on her and stopped. The streets were fairly full at this hour, so she pulled Sucy closer to the wall of a small store. Sucy looked at her with uncertainty in her eyes. The same kind of uncertainty she often showed when Akko wasn’t around. “You’re a mystery, but that’s part of your charm.”

Sucy pressed her lips. “I… Are we doing this?” she asked, looking down.

“Doing what?”

“The emotional talk. I’m feeling kind of down. Usually Akko pep talks me, but since she’s not here…” she shrugged.

“And you don’t think I can do it?” Diana asked.

“I don’t know,” Sucy looked into her eyes. “Can you?”

Diana was surprised by the sincerity in Sucy’s eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. With a sigh, she turned, pulling Sucy through the street again. They needed to be back soon. “But I do know that I judged you too harshly before,” she said as she walked. Not looking at Sucy made it easier. “Once Akko told me that you had probably gone through a lot in your life, even if you didn’t often speak about it, and I think she was right. I don’t know what life has brought you, or what hardships you’ve been through, but I can see what she meant. You’re a good person, Sucy. Maybe not an immediately likable one, but… Nines, I’m bad at this.”

Sucy chuckled. “Yes, you are. Guess that’s another one to the list of Things-Diana-Can’t-Do. ‘Pep talks’.”

“You sound like you’re in a better mood though,” Diana smirked.

“It’s funny, seeing you try to be emotionally supportive towards me. Like two drunkards arguing over who drinks the last beer, only to find out the bottle is already empty,” Sucy’s smile peeked through her hair.

“I’m not sure about your example, but…” Diana made the conscious choice to squeeze Sucy’s hand a little tighter. “If you’re feeling better, then I’d say I succeeded.”

Sucy didn’t reply, but Diana understood she didn’t need to.

They reached the ley-line stop. Diana turned to go retrieve her broom, but Sucy stood there and pulled her back. With a curious glance, Diana managed to see Sucy with one of those thoughtful, extremely hesitant expressions she used whenever she was about something out of her comfort zone.

She looked up and met Diana’s eyes. “Would you like a kiss?” She asked almost with a strained voice, as if she was angry.

Diana looked at Sucy. The same kind of hesitance slipped into her, that uncertainty about what would happen if they tried. Today had been fun. A lot of fun. But it could have been simple friendship kind of fun. “What happens if we don’t like it?”

“We’ll still be friends,” Sucy said, voice still strained. “It’s just… just a kiss, r-right?”

But for them, it wasn’t so simple. Being physical in their affections didn’t come naturally to either of them. Kisses had been something they’d only shared with Akko up until this point. A wrong kiss _could_ mean extreme awkwardness for their relationship moving forward. Was it worth the risk?

Maybe it was.

“One kiss shouldn’t be too big an issue,” Diana said in a weak voice and with a nervous smile. “I’ve read friends do it all the time anyways.”

“Ha, yeah…”

An awkward silence fell between them. They looked into each other’s eyes, but neither made a move. “This was easier with Akko. She initiated both our first kisses,” Diana said.

“Maybe we should close our eyes?”

“That wouldn’t solve the problem of starting the kiss.”

“I know: Let’s flip a coin, whoever loses starts it.” Sucy took a coin out of her pocket. “Heads or tails?”

Diana found the situation a little absurd, but she could appreciate the direct approach. “Heads,” Diana said.

Sucy flipped the coin.

Tails.

Diana sighed. “Guess I’ll start…” she said, looking at Sucy. Sucy meekly nodded. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up.

She was attractive, that was undeniably. Her long hair, her lean build, her sharp features. But these weren’t what Diana was truly interested in. She had fallen for Akko because of her ability to break through her barriers. To make her want to be a better version of herself. For her energy and passion.

Sucy had passion, too, but in a different way. She was a more subtle girl. Had Diana… fallen for her too?

There was one way to find out.

She leaned slowly, placing her hands on Sucy’s shoulders. Sucy smelled like herbs, curiously enough. Not any one specifically, just a general herbal scent that reminded Diana of ancient druidic orders. She’d once visited one. Sucy would probably fit in with them.

But right now, she was here, with her.

With one final movement, Diana placed her lips on Sucy’s.

In a way, it wasn’t that different from kissing Akko. Her lips were warm too, and a similar feeling, like a shot of energy straight into her chest, manifested within her. On the other hand, differences were apparent. Sucy was a little more reticent and held back. It took a second to get the kiss going, for her to part her lips and loosen up. But when they did, Sucy’s movements were subtler thank Akko’s, almost hesitant.

Diana liked it.

She let the hands she had on Sucy’s shoulders slip behind her, locking Sucy in a hug. Sucy, slowly, put her hands on Diana’s waist, then moving them to hug Diana too.

This wasn’t like kissing Akko. Kissing Akko was a wild thing, full of unhinged passion and excitement. This was more of a careful, measured show of affection. A different experience, but equally thrilling.

They separated slowly, but kept hugging. Sucy opened her eyes—well, Diana wasn’t sure if she’d even closed the one hidden behind her hair—and blinked. “I… liked that,” she admitted.

Diana nodded, not finding any word to express how much she agreed. She leaned again, kissing Sucy a second time. And then a third. “This is… quite something, isn’t it?” She asked after separating the third time.

“Kisses with Akko tend to leave me breathless,” Sucy nodded. “This is more like simply having it harder to breathe. Not bad, just…”

“Different,” Diana finished the thought.

“Yeah.”

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. “Akko is gonna be absurdly happy about this,” Sucy said.

“Yeah. Surprised, too.”

“We should get something for her. Else she’s gonna be mad we went on a date without her.”

They let go of each other. “You have a point. What should we get her?” Diana considered.

Sucy smiled “Well, I think I’ve an idea that can work.”

“If it’s half as good as your idea today, then count me in,” Diana replied without pause.

Sucy told her the idea.

It _was_ a great idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, next chapter's the last.  
> Thanks HollowClock!  
> Leave a comment on your thoughts!


	9. End.

Freedom.

Akko stepped out of the kitchen, eyes teary for the relief of finally being free from her punishment. She’d peeled all the potatoes in the world. She’d washed every tomato in existence. She’d cried with so many onions, and she wasn’t even cutting them.

But now she was free.

The last week had been hell. During classes, Sucy and Diana had been strangely distant. Were they mad? It was as if something was going on, and Akko had stressed over it. During nights, she was too tired to do much but speak, and not being able to hang with her friends had been torture.

So when she saw her two girlfriends standing outside, smiles on their faces, arms outstretched… she nearly cried of happiness. She tackled both girls, throwing all of them into the ground, laughing. “I’ve missed you soooo much!” Akko cried, showering them both in kisses. “We’re going on a date tomorrow, I don’t care where, got it?”

Sucy and Diana chuckled. “Welcome back, dear,” Diana said.

“Now, if you don’t mind, please let us stand,” Sucy tried to push her off.

Akko stood, helping them both up. She was so happy to see them. “Hug me,” she said, extending her arms.

They did without pause. “We’ve got a bit of news for you,” Diana said.

“You do?” Akko pulled back a little to look at their faces. Her two girlfriends exchanged a look, smiling mischievously.

“We started dating, too,” Sucy said.

Akko blinked. “Wait. You two?” She got past her initial shock pretty quickly, a smile spreading through her lips. “Really?!” They nodded. “That’s amazing! When did it happen? No, don’t tell me, I wanna guess, uhm…”

“Akko, Akko,” Sucy patted her back. “Calm down, we can talk about this later in a calmer place.”

“For now,” Diana pulled back from the hug. “We brought you a gift for your release!”

“You have?” Akko felt her smile widen to the point where her face began to hurt. “What is it? What is it?” She asked, excitement showing.

“I was gonna do a bit of a presentation,” Sucy said, “but I feel like you’re gonna tackle me if I don’t give it to you directly, so here.”

Sucy handed Akko a long cylinder. Maybe the length of her forearm, as wide as her palm. Akko looked at it, confused. It was wrapped on a simple pink and red paper with a little red bow. Destroying the wrapping—she always hated those—she found the cylinder to be a wooden case of some sort. It opened horizontally, and inside, sitting on a velvet cushion…

Her eyes got teary again. “This…” she looked at her gift in disbelief. It was a wand. “This is…” Not only a wand, though. Completely white, the shape of it was instantly recognizable. Seven little crystal balls had been placed on its blade-like length, and while the golden handle was differently shaped from the original—meant to be used as a proper wand—everything else was almost exactly the same, only miniaturized.

It was a tiny version of the Shiny Rod.

“It was Sucy’s idea,” Diana said.

“It was Diana who won it, though,” Sucy replied.

“It wouldn’t have been made so fast if Sucy hadn’t threatened the manufacturer,” Diana argued.

“We only got it started so soon because of your name,” Sucy tried to counter-argue.

“Girls, stop, I don’t care. It’s the best thing anyone’s ever given me,” Akko closed the case carefully and looked up, sniffing and wiping a tear off her face. “I love you two,” again, she threw her arms about the two of them, kissing their cheeks with all the feeling she could put into it.

The two of them hugged her back. “I love you too,” Diana said.

A second later, she nudged Sucy. She grunted slightly. “I love you too, too,” she said almost reluctantly.

Akko laughed, squeezing them both closer. “Ok. Now, let’s go ask Jasminka for some snacks,” she separated from them, putting the case in her pocket.

“Aren’t you going to try your new wand?” Sucy asked.

Akko patted it. “I’ll test it later. We’ll see how it goes. Let’s go for those snacks, though.”

Both Sucy and Diana seemed disappointed Akko hadn’t tested the wand right there and then. But Akko smiled. She’d save its first use for a special occasion. Until then, she’d keep it as a reminder that dating these two girls had been the best choice she’d ever made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short final chapter! Wasn't sure if I should have named it an epilogue but whatever who the fuck cares.  
> Hope you enjoyed this story! It was really fun writing it! And thanks to HollowClock for asking for it!  
> And leave a comment with your thoughts on the story!  
> See you later!

**Author's Note:**

> This work was for HollowClock! He's also got some fun fanfics, go read'em!  
> If you enjoyed this, and would like to see _some more of it_ , consider _checking out_ my twitter or contacting me through Discord!  
> -Twitter: @BillErak (95% of this account is retweets of shitposting or gay stuff, check pinned tweet)  
> -Discord Tag: VathýSkotádi#1696  
> I'd really appreciate the _support!_


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